Society

Tunisia – Tourist towns that are no longer attractive to tourists

The tourism sector has been in decay since ten years ago due to continuous crises extending from the revolution to the covid pandemic. Crises which got the better of a good number of hotel units, which did not have the means to hold out and ended up withdrawing. Other units, on the other hand, have succeeded, as best they can, to retain their heads above water, by operating radical price reductions and promotional moves in order to maintain a minimum activity. However, now that the industry is about to restart, other issues have emerged that may hamper the business of hotel units. These issues are independent of hotels and hoteliers, but which nonetheless affect their operations.

When a tourist arrives in a city that is assumed to be touristy, par excellence, as Hammamet, Sousse, Monastir, Mahdia, etc., he is confronted with surrealist views from the first steps. The accesses to these cities have, in fact, known, since 2011, complete dilapidation, and have been squatted by all kinds of businesses that have nothing attractive or artistic, such as thrift stores, merchants of contraband fuel, food stalls, and, sometimes, garbage dumps.

Something to put off the more reckless tourists to go ahead and join the hotels. Before 2011 a whole program was set in place to settle tourist circuits, with tree-lined and flowered alleys, with attractive shops, all in an impeccable state of cleanliness. Because you should know that the tourist does not plan to limit himself to a hotel, during his entire stay, he wants to go out, go shopping, or, simply, walks on foot or by bike, and the landscapes that are offered to him nowadays does not inspire him to do so, and he is not likely to return anytime soon, nor to suggest the destination to others.

Cities with a tourist vocation should make more tries to upgrade accesses and mark out a favourable route for visitors to Tunisia. This is an essential part of the quality of service provided to tourists, which should not be overlooked.