The share of tourism in the gross domestic product (GDP) increased from 4.1% in 2018 to 4.5% in 2019, to reach 3.2% in 2022, according to the note, published on Wednesday by the National Institute of Statistics (INS).
In fact, the INS explained that after a rather buoyant 2019, the tourism industry was hit hard in 2020 by the health crisis (COVID-19 pandemic) and its many repercussions, following the unprecedented contraction in tourism demand. It should be noted that the share of tourism in GDP was limited to 1.7% in 2020 and 2% in 2021.
Direct GDP generated by the tourism sector increased from 4.6 billion dinars in 2018 to 5.5 billion dinars in 2019, then fell to 2 billion dinars in 2020 and 2.5 billion dinars in 2021, before recovering to 4.4 billion dinars in 2022.
Direct gross value added in tourism comes mainly from tourism-related activities (67.5%), namely accommodation, food and transport services, and tourism-related activities (23%).
The INS also reported that the number of direct jobs in the tourism sector will increase from 137,000 in 2018, to 155,000 in 2019, to just over 70,000 in 2020 and 2022, reaching 107,000 in 2022, representing 3.1% of total employment in Tunisia.
It should be noted that this note summarizes the main findings and data for Tunisia’s tourism sector.
