Tunisia tourism sector targets Ramadan visitors

The peak of the tourist season coincides with the onset of Ramadan this year, but tourism professionals in Tunisia see the timing as an opportunity.

They hope to turn what might have been considered an obstacle into a way to boost the number of visitors.

The Tunisian Tourism Ministry started preparing for the event months ago, adopting a number of measures to protect the sector that generates the most hard currency for the country.

"European tourists have a negative impression about tourism in Ramadan," explained Mohamed Berguaoui, a tourism expert. "Most of them think that stores are generally closed and that people are for the most part lazy and sluggard. That is not true. Public offices are all open and so are stores."

Bergaoui suggested that during Ramadan, "the old town be turned into an attraction so that tourists would get to see the Tunisian lifestyle during that month, when people generally stay up late and festivals attracts artists of the highest calibre".

Tourism constitutes around seven percent of the gross domestic product and creates around 400,000 job opportunities. Around seven million tourists visited Tunisia last year, 40% of whom came from Libya and Algeria.

To lure visitors to Tunisia during Ramadan, Tourism Minister Slim Tlatli plans an ambitious programme of evening entertainment events, open stores and restaurants, rental cars in tourist locations, and shuttle buses between hotels and mosques for Taraweeh prayers.

Jamil Zagudan, the manager of a tourism magazine, noted that Tunisia is rich in religious attractions and mosques that encapsulate Tunisia?s history, all of which are brightly clad during the month of Ramadan.

"This is a golden opportunity to invite tourists to get to know about all that," he added.

"Why not invite non-Muslim tourists to experience fasting for a single day? Why not encourage people to welcome tourists in their houses so they could get to know more about our culture, traditions, and cuisine that month? That is the essence of the cultural dialogue," he added.

The national tourism official in the historic city of Kairouan, Ilyes Msallem, noted that around 76,000 Algerian tourists spent Ramadan in Tunisia; 80% of whom were in Kairouan, where they performed the Taraweeh prayers in the ancient mosque of "Oqba Ben Nafe."

Meryam ben Abdallah, a marketing official at one of the hotels, said that people working in the sector learned from their Ramadan experience last year.

"During that month, everything changed, in terms of working hours, meal-serving times and the menus," she told Magharebia.

Some foreign tourists say they are interested in visit Tunisia during the holy month.

"I think I will come back in Ramadan, if I am able to, so I can get to know about your cuisine during that month," French tourist Henri Paston told Magharebia. "I also plan on enjoying your Sufi music which, I was told, is quite widespread in Ramadan," he said.

His friend Simone Tawlier, who is preparing to head home after spending a week in Tunisia, is also thinking of scheduling her annual vacation to synchronise with Ramadan next year.

"I was told by some friends that people grow calmer and more generous," she said.

Sourced=magharebia