Visit Tunisia’s enabling environment team is working to unite key public and private tourism stakeholders around a long-term strategy to enhance the sector’s competitiveness.

As part of this objective, Visit Tunisia supported the establishment of a National Tourism Strategy (NTS) Working Group, made up of 27 private and public tourism stakeholders. To kick off the working group's consultation process, the project helped organize the first NTS workshop, convened on March 28 under the patronage of Tunisian Prime Minister Najla Bouden.

The NTS event drew more than 200 attendees and widespread media coverage, helping to build momentum for the new strategy.

The prime minister delivered remarks at the event highlighting the importance of tourism development on the national economy and the need to capitalize on Tunisia’s diverse tourism offerings.

“The difficulties facing the tourism sector should not stop us from continuing to work for the good of the country by relying on Tunisian skills,” said Prime Minister Bouden. “...We have developed, as part of an inclusive approach, a roadmap to get out of the crisis and resume tourism activity.”

"We must no longer limit ourselves to seaside tourism...We need to encourage investment in alternative tourism," Bouden added.

Tourism Minister Moez Belhassine, also in attendance, said the tourism sector must adapt to new international trends following the COVID-19 pandemic and noted the importance of “enriching tourism products and promoting them abroad, while encouraging tourism investments.”

In addition to panel remarks on tourism’s economic contribution, the NTS event included smaller break-out sessions for participants to discuss the four main pillars of the draft NTS -- competitiveness, diversification, investment, and marketing.

The Ministry of Tourism and Handicrafts (MOTH) hailed the event as a major success and is planning follow-up working group sessions throughout Tunisia.