Tunisia saw an 18 percent increase in the number of tourist arrivals during the first four months of this year compared to the same period last year, according to the Tunisian Ministry of Tourism. The number of foreign tourists in this period was over 2.2 million with tourism revenues reaching EUR 294 million, up 16.5 percent year-on-year.
Tourism Minister Rene Trabelsi said that Tunisia's prediction to host 9 million tourists in 2019 could be achieved in light of the results of the first four months of the year.
He stressed that the work of the ministry will focus on promoting desert tourism, which declined over the past few years due to unstable security conditions.
The tourist region of Tozeur, in southern Tunisia, recorded 100 percent bookings to late February, the minister reported.
The first three months witnessed a strong return of European tourists, as their numbers grew 22 percent by the end of March.
The number of tourists coming from the Maghreb countries also increased, accounting for 44 percent of the total number of arrivals during the same period. Some 496,000 Algerian tourists and 473,000 Libyan tourists came to Tunisia during the first trimester of the current year.
The Ministry of Tourism expects to attract one million French, 390,000 German, and 640,000 Russian tourists by the end of this year, bringing the total number of arrivals to more than 9 million from various tourist destinations.
During the last tourist season, Tunisia received more than 8 million tourists and aims to reach over 10 million by 2020. Experts believe that Tunisia remains a tourist destination allowing it to compete with other destinations overlooking the Mediterranean.
