TUNIS: Tunisia’s tourism sector bounced back this year with 8.8 million visitors, an official said Thursday, breaking pre-pandemic records and earning the country over two billion euros. Most visitors to the north African country came from nearby Algeria and Libya followed by France. “Our goal was to get back to 80 percent of tourism flow recorded in 2019,” said Aymen Rahmani, director of studies and cooperation at the Tunisian national tourism office. As of December 10, “Tunisia has exceeded this goal” with 8.8 million visitors compared to 8.7 million over the same period of 2019, before the Covid pandemic hit, said Rahmani.

“If we keep the same trend, by the end of 2023, we will reach 9.6 million visitors,” he added. Tourism revenues had reached 6.7 billion Tunisian dinars (about two billion euros), said Rahmani, who added that they could reach 6.9 billion dinars by the end of 2023. Tunisia significantly relies on tourism, which was impacted by the pandemic but also jihadist attacks that left 60 foreigners dead in 2015 at the Bardo museum in Tunis and a seaside resort in Sousse.

According to the World Bank, the sector’s ongoing recovery has allowed Tunisia—which is mired in debt of around 80 percent of GDP—to partially rebalance its current deficit. The lender projects economic growth of only 1.2 percent for Tunisia this year. Years of drought have dealt a blow to agriculture while the war in Ukraine long made cereal and energy imports more expensive. Visitors from Algeria headed the list with 2.7 million this year, followed by 2.1 million Libyans and 974,000 French visitors, according to the country’s tourism office. — AFP