Tunisia welcomed around 1.7 million tourists from January to April 20, up 19 percent from the same period last year.
The Tunisian Ministry of Tourism said the numbers exceeded even those of 2010, the best year yet for the industry.
Tunisia expects more than 8 million tourists this year compared with 7 million in 2017. The tourism sector seeks TND3.5 billion (USD1.4 billion) in revenues in 2018.
Tourism relies heavily on European markets (especially France and Germany), and the return of European tourists is a significant indicator on the recovery of the sector.
Belgium announced two days earlier that it lifted the travel ban on citizens to Tunisia.
During the first three months of the current year, the tourism ministry revealed an increase in European tourists, 52.2 percent, also an 18.3 percent rise in the number of tourists coming from Maghreb (in particular Algeria, Libya).
In another context, the French Development Agency provided EUR300,000 to the Tunisian Chemical Group (Groupe Chimique Tunisien) to fund a study on the social and environmental responsibility of the institution.
"This is a complementary financing of a subsidized loan by the European Union of €40 million aimed at putting in place equipment intended to reduce the company’s air, water and solid pollution,” Gilles Chausse Director of the French Development Agency (AFD) said.
Chausse recalled that Tunisia is one of the first countries to receive support from the AFD in the world, and that the Agency supports government projects, but also the private and associative sectors.
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