Tunisia's tourism regains its shine
Tunisia's tourism sector continues to impress, with its current growth driven by several key factors. The return of political stability, coupled with an aggressive international promotional campaign, has clearly paid off. Tourists, drawn by Tunisia's rich cultural and natural heritage, have responded in growing numbers.
Industry professionals are pleased with these encouraging results but remain cautious about the future. Challenges persist, including heightened competition from rival tourist destinations and global economic uncertainty. Nonetheless, medium-term prospects appear favorable.
In 2024, Tunisia set a new record, welcoming over 10 million tourists from various international markets—a figure surpassing the pre-pandemic benchmark year of 2019.
Among these visitors, 328,000 were Tunisians residing abroad, marking a 9% increase compared to the previous year.
The previous record was achieved in 2019, when the country welcomed more than 9.4 million tourists before the COVID-19 pandemic severely impacted this strategic sector starting in 2020.
Tourism revenues reached 7.5 billion dinars by the end of 2024, representing an 8.3% increase compared to 2023.
Regarding the main source markets, Algeria stands out with over 3.5 million visitors, a 16% increase compared to 2023. In contrast, the number of Libyan tourists decreased by about 7%, stabilizing at 2.1 million compared to 2023.
Maghreb tourists accounted for nearly 5.7 million visitors, representing 55.6% of total arrivals in Tunisia in 2024 and 63.8% of non-resident foreigners.
The French market leads with 1.1 million visitors, just after the Maghreb markets. Germany follows with 329,000 visitors, while the United Kingdom climbs to third place with 327,000 tourists, surpassing Poland, which crossed the 320,000-tourist mark.
11 million tourists expected in 2025!
The total number of European tourists reached 2.974 million in 2024, showing a significant 16.9% increase compared to 2023.
Additionally, Tunisia welcomed nearly 72,000 American tourists, 57,650 non-Maghreb Africans, 57,000 tourists from the Middle East, and 23,000 Chinese visitors.
The tourism sector contributes approximately 9% to Tunisia's GDP and generates 400,000 direct and indirect jobs.
Tunisian authorities aim to welcome over 11 million tourists in 2025, confirming the sector's growth momentum.
Extensive Promotion Campaign in 2025
A major focus of discussions at the Ministry of Tourism was the upcoming promotional campaigns for Tunisia as a tourist destination, led by the Tunisian National Tourist Office (ONTT) in 2025.
During the session, tourism professionals emphasized the importance of Tunisia's participation in international exhibitions and fairs to promote the destination, boost investments in the sector, and introduce new tourism programs aimed at developing sustainable and responsible tourism.
These include initiatives such as the Culinary Route, the Cinematic Route, and the UNESCO Route.
Furthermore, they called for better coordination with all stakeholders, including diplomatic missions and Tunisian structures abroad, to enhance Tunisia's international image.
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