Tunisia: Rise in Demand during Summer, Prospects
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According to many travel companies, the latest summer season exceeded the last year’s results, which is also corroborated by statistics: during 2013 the country was visited by about 300 thousand Russian tourists, which is 50 thousand more compared to the last year.
However, experts deem it to be only a quantitative index for the market as opposed to a qualitative one.
“The rise in the tourist flow to Tunisia has to do with two objective factors. First, due to the worsening of the political situation in Egypt a number of tourists switched to Tunisia. It is worth noting that the Egyptian tourist is different in that he prefers cheaper tours, and Tunisia is far from being cheap (the flight alone costs about $420), so it is very unlikely to be their destination of choice next season. Second, many tour operators increased their passenger volumes for the destination by way of lowering tour prices in order to fill the seats. This makes the rise in the tourist flow a quantitative index for the market as opposed to a qualitative one,” says Head of ICS Group’s Tunisian Department Natalya Margolina.
The expert also mentioned the rise in sales for the New Year and Christmas. Natalya Margolina believes that in order to popularize the destination it is necessary to lower the travel costs and expand the advertising campaign on the Russian market.
Marina Zaikina, the head of the Tunisia and exotica department of ‘Russian Express’, says that on the whole this summer season went better than last year’s: the rise in sales was especially noticeable at the end of July and in August.
According to the experts, summer holidays are the main generators of demand for the destination, but the country allows for different tourism products. During wintertime few tourists come to Tunisia, but those who do go there for thalassotherapy. As of today, the country houses more than 45 professional specialized centers, upon visiting which you can expect high service quality, experience and democratic prices. The most frequent visitors of the center are French, then come Russians, followed by Germans, Czechs and Hungarians. Marina Zaikina added that the number of thalassotherapy centers in the country was growing by the year.
Also, Tunisia has a lot to offer excursion-wise, which may very well make it an all-year destination. There are a lot of sights in the country that are underadvertised on the Russian market. The sales are made more sluggish by the high price of excursions and the shortage of Russian-speaking guides in Tunisia.
Keep reading TRN for more on Tunisian excursions.
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