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Democracy, Image Swap and Low-Cost Airlines: Tunisia’s Plea to Boost Tourism

Democracy, Image Swap and Low-Cost Airlines: Tunisia’s Plea to Boost Tourism

Written by Monia Ghanmi | From Magharebia

Tunisia is seeking to benefit from the achieved political success by promoting a new image for its tourism through social media.

Since coming to office, Tourism Minister Amel Karboul said she would exploit the political calm and the security improvements achieved by Tunisia in a bid to promote tourism recovery by attracting visitors from various countries.

Experts note that authorising low-cost airlines to operate in Tunisia might be one way to help revive Tunisian tourism, Kapitalis reported Wednesday (April 16th).

An open skies agreement under discussion between Tunisia and the EU is expected to be finalised in May. Some speculate it could make travel to the North African jewel more affordable.

“I tell western tourists come to Tunisia, the first democracy in the Arab world! Live historic moments and support the democratic transition in Tunisia. Come also enjoy the beauty of Tunisia’s sun, its beaches and desert,” Karboul told Western media in a February 26th interview.

The ministry posted several promotional videos of touristic areas on the internet with calls for all to visit free and democratic Tunisia.

Karboul said traditional propaganda campaigns to promote Tunisian tourism “are costly and their impact is long-term, while Tunisia has limited financial resources”.

“If everything continues to be fine, our expectations suggest that we may receive 7 million tourists in 2014,” she noted.

Travel agent Wael Hamraoui said the marketing provided by the new constitution of Tunisia and the subsequent agreements offered the best promotional image of the country abroad.

This season began registering positive signals by recording a slight increase for bookings for the coming months, especially by French customers, he said.

Read more at Magharebia