Tunisia to roll out virtual red carpet for tourists

To welcome the growing number of tourists who choose destinations using the internet, Tunisia is boosting its online presence.

By Houda Trabelsi for Magharebia in Tunis – 05/05/10

Tunisia plans to expand its internet outreach as part of a promotional technique to attract around 10 million tourists by 2014, Tunisian Minister of Tourism Slim Tletli told reporters on April 29th.

The ministry would have its own website soon, and the website of the Tunisian National Tourism Authority would be revamped to meet the challenges of the online era, Tletli said.

"We will support any website or portal about tourism in Tunisia that highlights its characteristics so as to attract more tourists", the minister said at a conference at the International Press Center of the Tunisian External Communications Agency.

Studies show that positive opinions about a tourist attraction posted on internet forums attract three additional travelers to the destination, while negative ones are likely to discourage 10 other tourists, Tletli said.

The latest World Tourism Organization data show that about 70% of tourists world-wide now choose their holiday destination by browsing the internet. This power over tourist decision-making is drawing attention far beyond government circles.

"Travel agencies have to adapt to the new reality because they don't have any other option; they should make this challenge a positive point by using modern technology," the head of the Tunisian Association of Travel Agencies, Hamadi Chrif, told Magharebia after the April 29th event.

Chrif said his colleagues are "well prepared" for this challenge and are creating their own websites to keep abreast of the changes taking place in the sector, particularly their customers' increasing tendency to use the internet to choose destinations.

Tunisia's tourism revenues reached 545 million dinars in the first quarter of 2010, with 1.098 million tourists and 4.463 million bed-nights, equaling a 4.6% rise compared to the same period in 2009, TAP quoted Tletli as saying at the event.

Besides expanding internet promotions, the ministry's other priorities include "tourism sector growth rates of about 7%, and generating US$5 billion in hard currencies", Tletli said.

Tunisia is experiencing a boom in certain tourism sectors. The beaches of Hammamet and the antiquities of Carthage are no longer the country's main attractions for international travelers. Tourists are now coming for liposuction, breast augmentations and other cosmetic surgery procedures. By 2008, Tunisia had seen a 7500% increase in the "health tourism" phenomenon.

As recently as 2007, travelers from the Maghreb accounted for a third of all tourist arrivals in Tunisia. In step with that data, the country has in recent years prioritized upgrading facilities for such tourists.

Source: Magharebia.com
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/features/2010/05/05/feature-02.