Arab News 17 May, 2004

Tunisia has begun a campaign to attract tourists from Saudi Arabia and other GCC states. A meeting of travel, tourism and hotel professionals was recently held in Jeddah

 at the Khaleej Palace Hotel as part of the campaign. Those participating included Fatahi Badda, Tunisian consul general in Jeddah, Shukri Sharrad, director of the Tunisian Tourism Office in the Kingdom, and a number of Tunisians working in the travel, tourism and hotel sectors.

Tunisian Ambassador Salahuddin Moawi chaired the meeting and promised that the country would carefully consider proposals to attract Arab tourists, especially Saudis, to Tunisia. A committee was set up to study the proposals and present recommendations to the Supreme Tourism Council.

The National Tourism Conference, which is scheduled to be opened by Tunisian President Zain Al-Abidine Ben Ali on June 28 will also look into the recommendations and take appropriate action.

Tunisia, in north Africa with a Mediterranean coast, has spent $5 billion on tourism infrastructure projects which include 800 hotels with a total of 220,000 beds, 400 restaurants and a number of recreation centers across the country. More than five million tourists visit Tunisia every year, spending some 30 million nights in the country.

Although many Saudis spend their holidays abroad, fewer than 10,000 of them visit Tunisia. The meeting outlined steps for attracting Saudi tourists who spend nearly $20 billion annually on foreign trips.

Those participating in the meeting proposed regular or seasonal flights by Tunis Air between Riyadh and Tunisia, a campaign featuring Tunisian tourist attractions and facilities, strengthening cooperation between travel agents and hotels in both countries and organizing moderate tourist package deals.