The Tunisian hotel sector is experiencing a significant decline in bookings. Hopes are being pinned on the end-of-year holidays and current cultural events to reverse this trend, but a coordinated approach is needed to ensure a more certain recovery for tourism in Tunisia.
On Wednesday, July 10, Ahmed Ben Taieb, president of the Tunisian Federation of Travel Agencies (FTAV), expressed concern about a 10-15% drop in bookings at the start of the summer high season.
Speaking on Express FM radio, he said the season was promising and had got off to a flying start. The season has got off to a flying start with revenue up 6% to 8%, bookings up 6% to 7% and total package up 10% to 15%.
He added that “this momentum has been interrupted. Since the beginning of July, we have seen a significant decline”. He admitted that there is always a decline in this period, but this year the decline is significant.
“In general, the month of August, especially the period from August 5 to 25, is fully booked. But that’s not the case this year”. According to him, the phenomenon affects Djerba, Sousse, Monastir and Hammamet.
And a number of hotels are running sales that are unusual for this time of year,” he explained.
As for the causes, he felt that the rise in prices at the start of the high season (a significant increase in hotel booking prices of over 40% between June and July) could be one of the reasons for this drop in bookings.
He also pointed out that tour operators had not planned charter flights for July and had been forced to band together to make joint flights. He also believed that the current UEFA European Championship was having an impact.
On another front, the president of the FTAV was optimistic, pointing out that the low season will not be bad this year thanks to early bookings. As for the future of this season, we won’t know for sure until after July 20.
More than 4 million tourists visited Tunisia
Tourism Minister Mohamed El Moez Belhassine announced that more than 4 million tourists visited Tunisia during the first half of 2024, an increase of 4.5% compared to the same period in 2023.
He confirmed that tourism revenues exceeded 2.8 billion dinars at the end of June 2024, an increase of 6.6% compared to 2023, according to data published by the Central Bank of Tunisia (BCT).
According to the Minister, these indicators testify to the good performance of tourism at national level, particularly for the destination of Djerba, which is the leading destination in terms of the number of arrivals and the number of hotel units.
