Tourism: the shadow of the coronavirus hangs over the beaches of Tunisia

Text by: RFI Follow

Tunisia reopened its air, land and sea borders on Saturday, June 27. After three months of closure due to the pandemic, this reopening should allow the return under conditions of tourists and Tunisians living abroad. Not sure as long as it saves the tourist season. This sector at half mast usually contributes 10% of gross domestic product.

Publicity

With our correspondent in Tunis, Michel Picard

“  Local tourism during the summer then an international clientele from September.  By this prediction, this hotel owner of a seaside town no longer believes in the arrival of tourists in his establishment in July. The procrastination of the authorities and the complexity of the system have resulted in cancellations of reservations.

The health measures classify the countries in three colors according to the epidemic risk which will be updated:

- Green (including Italy or Germany): freedom of movement.

- Orange (including France or Lebanon): presentation of a recent negative test accompanied by a two-week self-isolation.

- Finally red: only Tunisians residing in these countries are authorized on presentation of a negative test, to disembark before submitting to compulsory confinement in a hotel.

Many hoteliers consider these measures discouraging for foreign tourists accustomed to planning stays without constraints in advance.

Another uncertainty is the arrival or not of the hundreds of thousands of Tunisians in the diaspora, a large part of which visits their relatives each year. There are more than a million in France and Italy. Their arrival would be a breath of fresh air for an economy at half mast but they refuse to be reduced to a providential windfall for times of crisis.

Tunisia, which managed the health crisis in an exemplary manner by limiting the impact to fifty deaths, cannot afford the arrival of a new wave of contamination. Since it also cannot afford to draw a line under the economic windfall linked to travelers arriving from abroad.

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• Tunisia
• Tourism
• Coronavirus

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