Hammamet by tomsweeneytravels.blogspot.com |
Tunisia's tourism revenues jumped
36 percent in the first quarter of 2012 compared with the same period
in 2011.
Tourism receipts reached 1.15
billion dinars (around 575 million euros) during the first three
months of this year, Tourism Minister Elyes Fakhfakhannounced.
The number of overnight stays during
this period surged by 74 percent to 11 million. But they still
remained 20 percent lower than in the first quarter of 2010.
Meanwhile, revenues were
down 13 to 15 percent compared with the first quarter of 2010
according to Habib Ammar, the Director of Tunisia's
National Tourism Office, ONTT
The latest figures confirm the
recovery of Tunisia'stourism industry, after official data released
in April indicated a rise in tourist arrivals in the first quarter of
52.8 percent.
The number of tourists visiting
Tunisia in the first six months of 2012 was also up, by 41 percent
compared with the first half of last year, to 2.4 million, and the
minister said expectations for the summer were satisfactory.
Reservation rates for July are
forecast at 85 percent, falling to 68 percent in August and 60
percent in September.
The French contribute by the far the
most to Tunisia's tourism industry, accounting for 8.7 million
overnight stays in 2010, followed by the Germans with 5.3 million
overnight stays, according to the ONTT.
Tourism represents seven percent of
Tunisia's GDP, employing 400,000 people directly or indirectly, but
the sector foundered in the wake of the mass uprising that
toppled the regime of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in January
2011.
The number of tourists visiting
Tunisia that year fell to 4.8 million in 2011, compared with nearly
seven million in 2010, while revenues were down by 33
percent.
The ministry hopes to see annual
tourist arrivals topping the pre-uprising levels in 2013.
Source: agencies
Source: agencies