Before 1970s → Tunisia was classified as an LIC
○ Agriculture made up most of its economy
● Government reforms helped the country to diversify and grow
○ Development strategy was introduced → promoted tourism along with manufacturing industries
● Location of Tunisia:
○ Small country in North Africa
○ Bordered by:
■ Algeria (west)
■ Libya (south east)
■ Mediterranean Sea (north and east)
● 2013 → tourism has brought 6.2 million people to Tunisia
● GNI per capita: US$4, 230 in 2014
● Since 1960 → life expectancy has risen from 42 to 75 = social development
Reasons for tourism:
● Climate
○ Northerly coast → Mediterranean
climate
■ Hot summers and
mild/ warm winters
○ Summer temperature reaches 40°C
● Links with Europe
○ Northern coastline is close to Europe
→ easily accessible
○ French colonial rule ended in Tunisia
in 1956 → French is widely spoken
■ Attracts French-speaking
tourists
● History and culture
○ Tunisia has 7 UNESCO World
Heritage Sites
■ eg/ ancient remains of city of
Carthage
■ eg/ El-Jem amphitheatre
built by Romans
○ Attracts tourists for sightseeing
● Physical landscape
○ Physical geography is diverse
■ eg/ Mediterranean beaches
■ eg/ Dorsal Mountains
■ eg/ Saharan Desert
○ Many films were shot in Tunisia
■ Attracts tourists
● Cheap package holidays
○ Tunisian government worked with
private companies like Thomas Cook
→ to develop country into a tourist
destination
○ Affordable package holidays were
introduced in 1960s
■ Tourist industry has grown
→ provides 370, 000 jobs
Economic impacts of tourism:
Economic impacts have spread well due to linked multiplier effects
● In addition to money spent on hotels , tourism boosts income of many Tunisian businesses
○ Visitors buy souvenirs in local markets → helps formal/informal businesses
● Impact has also spread to agricultural sector
○ Farmers provide hotels with food
● Taxi companies make money for transport of tourists
● Tourists from HICs spend more money i n Tunisia → adding to their economy
Social impacts of tourism:
● Due to tourism – Tunisia is one of the wealthiest countries in Africa
○ Income of Tunisia quadrupled in 1970s
● Tourism created 370, 000 jobs
○ Higher income → longer life expectancy
○ Diet and health improved
■ Tunisia’s government invests 4% of annual GDP in the health system
● People learn new skills in tourism construction and services
● Literacy rates have increased, rising from 66% → 79% since 1995
○ More families can afford to send children to school/university
● Tunisia connected with other places and their cultures
○ Changed their attitude towards girls’ education
■ Schooling is compulsory for girls
■ Women are entering higher education
○ Greater equality for women is an importan
Disadvantages of tourism:
● Pollution of the environment
○ Tunisia’s Mediterranean beaches have been polluted with untreated sewage waste from hotels
● “Leakage” of profits
○ Foreign companies (Thomas Cook) send holidaymakers to Tunisia → but keep a large amount of
profit
■ Limits amount of money that becomes reinvested locally
■ Slows down rate of economic development in Tunisia
● Terrorism
○ 2015 → 2 terrorist attacks aimed at tourists
1. Museum Bardo , Tunis
2. Holiday destination of Sousse
● Terrorists attacked because they object to some of they ways in which Tunisia is
developing
○ eg/ equality for women
○ European governments say that Tunisia isn’t a safe destination for tourists
■ Led to less foreign investment into the economy