Oases development lures tourists to Tunisia
|
|
|
Tunisia on line 10 January 2004
You can tour the Sahara on a camel, in a Land Rover or float over its oases in a balloon.
Thermal treatment for arthritis is provided at luxury hotels.
But to Mohammed Essayem, the regional director of tourism for the southwestern region or Tunisia the real achievement is turning the huge desert into a playground through an 18-hole golf course outside this ancient oasis in Tozeur.
Contrary to widespread belief, there is water under the sun-scorched desert
- but one has to find it. There is no shortage of it in Tozeur, where camel
caravans used to halt en route to Libya and points south. Now the oasis
is a major tourist asset.
There are scheduled flights from Paris and Frankfurt to the small airport
outside the town - in addition to charter flights from all over Europe bringing
visitors jaded by beach resorts.
There are 18 luxury hotels in Tozeur as well as several small guest houses
and two camping sites. Eight agencies provide sturdy four-wheel-drive vehicles
and guides familiar with desert tracks.
The nearby oasis of Nefta boasts three hotels; and Douz, surrounded by sand
dunes, has one.
One of the most unusual hotels is in the heart of the Tamerza oasis amid
towering rocks, where sun-hungry visitors from northern Europe lie by the
swimming pool in mid-February and watch TV programs from a dozen
countries.
"We have two types of visitors here," said Mr. Essayem at his office in
Tozeur. "Those brought for short stays in buses from the coastal resorts
for a look at the desert, and those who come directly from Europe for longer
stays."
Mr. Essayem attributes the expansion of tourism to the policies of Tunisian
President Zine Abidine Ben Ali, who, he says, "understood the opportunities
offered by the desert."
Thus, funds and tax breaks were provided to potential investors.
Most hotels have about 100 rooms and are rarely taller than two stories,
blending with the desert scenery and the low houses of ancient "medinas,"
or old native quarters of North African cities, at the major oases.
The expansion of tourism and hotel construction has had an obvious impact
on the lives of the permanent desert dwellers in an area where date production
was the main source of income.
Now, said Mr. Essayem, tourism in the Tunisian Sahara provides direct employment
to 4,000 people and indirect employment - souvenir and carpet shops, guides
and drivers - to an estimated 12,000.
Tozeur has a hotel school to train waiters and cleaning personnel. Middle
managers are trained in Tunis and are usually sent to foreign hotels for
additional experience.
French is a required language for hotel personnel and guides, but a number
also have learned basic English and a few words of German and Italian.
The area's tourist profile was further raise by the filming here of such
well-known films as "The English Patient" and "Star Wars."
Some wealthier visitors prefer "a real desert experience" with transport,
guides and additional staff provided. At night in tourist encampments, drums
roll and pipes shrill in tents equipped with heaters to fight the desert's
biting cold.
|
| Back to main page
|
|
Tourist entries slope down by 39%
TUNIS - A noteworthy improvement of hotel occupancy rate was recorded during the last ten days of July, while tourist trade has been marked, since January 2011, by a general decline of entries, overni (08/08/2011)
|
|
UNWTO supporting tourism in Tunisia
UNWTO and the Tunisian Government have signed a partnership agreement under which UNWTO will support the countryأ¢â‚¬â„¢s tourism development. Policy guidance, marketing and training for the tourism w (08/06/2011)
|
|
|
|
Showing 5 news articles
Back
To Top
Casablanca Office / Agents
Mr. Nour-eddine Saoudi
Mrs. Samera Bnalaede
163, rue Taha Hussein, Casablanca-Morroco
Mobile: +21 2 62 047 606
Tel/fax:+212 22 29 90 87
E-mail: itmcasablanca@tcph.org |
الدار البيضاء
السيد نور الدين سعودي
السيدة سميرة بنلعيدي
163 زنقة طه حسين
الدار البيضاء-المملكة المغربية
لتغطية الدول التالية: المغرب، الجزائر، تونس، موريتانيا |
|
|
