Tunisia recorded during the first nine months of 2020 a drop of 60% of its tourist receipts, essential for its economy, indicated Saturday the Minister of Tourism, while many hotels closed during the health crisis could not reopen.
"We have recorded a drop in (income from) tourism activities of 60% and we could reach 70% by the end of 2020," Tourism Minister Habib Ammar told reporters.
Tourism revenues reached 1.56 billion dinars (491.4 million euros, according to figures given by the ministry) from January 1 to September 20, 2020, a drop of 60%.
The number of overnight stays did not exceed 4.62 million, a decrease of 79.5% compared to the same period in 2019. Border arrivals had reached 1,714,493 as of September 20, 2020 (-75, 2%), according to official figures.
Despite these results, the director general at the Ministry of Tourism Moez Belhassine qualified with AFP the situation of Tunisia, better than that of "neighboring countries".
According to him, many professionals in the sector expected "a blank year" without any recipe.
This official admits however that "the tourist sector, very important for the Tunisian economy since it represents 14% of the GDP, is going through a rather difficult period".
This "health crisis has highlighted certain structural weaknesses in the tourism sector, including the financial base (of establishments) and the precariousness of employment", he added.
For Khaled Fakhfakh, president of the Tunisian Hotel Federation (FTH), “the current tourism situation is very bad, not to say catastrophic”.
According to him, "60% of hotels have not opened this year and may not reopen" in particular because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Tunisia initially contained the epidemic on its soil by precocious and strict restrictions as soon as the first contaminations appeared in early March, in particular by closing its borders, a measure with serious consequences for tourism.
Even since their reopening on June 27 and the lifting of the mandatory quarantine for travelers, the sector remains very affected and "its evolution is linked to the evolution" of the virus, according to Mr. Belhassine.
The country is also facing a resurgence in the number of new cases detected daily, with a record of 1,087 Thursday.
In total, the country has recorded more than 14,000 cases, including nearly 200 deaths.