Tunisia recorded 1,527,891 tourist arrivals, up 46.2% from January 1 to May 20, 2017, compared to the same period in 2016. The start of a recovery in European tourism, particularly in France and Germany, to the destination Tunisia, can be seen in the latest statistics published by the Tunisian National Tourist Office (TNTO).

The Maghreb tourism remains predominant, accounting for 60.2% of tourists arriving during this period, with 1,148,037 people, i.e. an increase of 51.6% compared to the same period of 2016.

Regarding the traditional markets of Tunisia, even though European tourists account for only 17% of total arrivals, their number increased by 31.1%.

The French ranked first with 153,050 tourists, up 45.1%, followed by Germans (37,909 tourists) and Italians (28,807). The British also returned to Tunisia, with 8,943 arrivals reported.

Thanks to Tunisia’s efforts to diversify the tourist markets, the country was able to welcome 44,754 Russian tourists until May 20, 2017, up 2.6% compared to 2016.

In addition, the number of Tunisians residing abroad reached 379,714 visitors, posting a growth of 9.4% compared to the previous year, bringing the total number of non-resident arrivals to more than 1.9 million.

According to a report by the Central Bank of Tunisia (BCT), tourism revenues at the end of April 2017 posted a slight increase of 5.2%, compared to a 46.4% increase in non-resident inflows.

Tourism revenues amounting to 491 million dinars (MD) thus remain far below the achievements of 2015, which reached 783 MD.

Similarly, the number of overnight stays grew by 31% compared to the previous year, i.e. 714,000 overnight stays, from January 1 to April 20, 2017.