The hope of a resumption of travelers’ arrival was quickly swept away by the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic in the countries from which tourists travel. The sector, which represents about 14% of Tunisia’s GDP, is therefore on its knees.
In Tunisia, on Monday 16 November, the government announced support for the tourism sector in difficulty since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.
Unemployed workers in the sector will receive a monthly allowance of 200 dinars (80 euros), or half the minimum wage, this is one of the important messages from the Minister of Tourism, Habib Ammar.
After declining significantly after the Jasmine Revolution in 2011 and the uncertainty associated with the terrorist attacks, the number of Tunisian tourist sites declined. The number of visitors was 9.5 million last year. Growth stopped net by the Covid-19 pandemic. According to the Minister of Tourism, despite the fact that the borders opened at the end of June and from the exemption from PCR testing to recent for people traveling through tour operators, the number of overnight stays has decreased by 80.5%.
Relaxation of conditions
Habib Ammara also announced that tourists “coming to camps in the desert” would have relaxed access conditions, without the obligation of quarantine, to revive Sahara tourism, provided they are part of organized travel and respect a protocol. sanitary.
The Tunisian government had already taken support measures, visibly poorly applied: professionals in the sector are complaining about the lack of implementation. Minister Habib Ammar demanded greater flexibility in the banks’ application of the mechanism for loans guaranteed by the state, in favor of tourism companies in difficulty.
According to the Tunisian Tourism Association, 27,000 jobs are at risk and six out of ten households with family businesses working in tourism are at risk of falling into poverty.
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