After a very dark period in the tourism sector, the business picked in this country that has many advantages, especially for French-speaking Switzerland.
All are categorical: Tunisia finding colors. Understand is that after three years of gloom in the tourism sector following the Jasmine Revolution - Revolution more readily described as dignity by Tunisians - business returns. Visitors are back. On site, hoteliers feel the trembling in recent weeks, whether in the field of spa, beach holiday, cultural tours or stays in old homes converted into boutique hotels.
In Switzerland, tour operators are the same conclusion. "For a month or two, we are witnessing a revival. The craze for Swiss Tunisia resumes, especially among the French-speaking Switzerland, "says Michel Vargues, Deputy CEO of Air Marin, which sends an average of 15 000 people in Tunisia every year since its inception 25 years ago.
"The trend is quite clear, especially in Romandie" confirms for Hotelplan, Migros Holidays and Tourism for All spokesman them Prisca Huguenin. "The summer months of April-May which extends to the end of October, looks good. There clearly has more customers than the last three years. "According to Julian Chan, spokesperson," bookings for Tunisia at Kuoni and Helvetic Tours rising again in October. "
"Customers are regaining confidence '
Everywhere the same explanation, summarized by Michel Vargues: "The country is politically stable, the situation there is calm, customers are regaining confidence. This summer, after three years sawtooth, reservations fill up very well. Obviously it will take a little longer before returning to the situation before the Revolution. People went elsewhere - in Turkey, for example - and they need to retain again. But I am hopeful, Tunisia has no real equivalent for Romands. Nearby, pleasant climate, a lot of tourist attractions, francophone population "
Words that flow like honey in the ears of the players in the Tunisian tourism! "We suffered during the years 2011, 2012 and 2013 Tourism was completely dormant, but now since the Easter weekend, it restarts. The hotel is full, our 24 rooms are taken and bookings for the remainder going well, "said Ben Hassine late April Karim Bey, Director of Dar Said, boutique hotel located in the village of Sidi Bou Said lovely, on the heights of Tunis, where resided the past André Gide or Simone de Beauvoir. "Many hotels have gone bankrupt. Those who had built too big, too fast and opted for mass tourism only interested in the beach, without making the effort to diversify, had to close their doors. "
"Bookings are starting to pour"
Same response in another segment buoyant tourism in Tunisia, thalassotherapy. "Before the Revolution, the occupancy rate of the hotel was 90%, one of the best scores of Tunisia. For three years, we were at 60% on average, with only 30% time, "said Faten Zghal, owner with her husband Slim palace of Royal Thalassa Monastir, built in 2001, and marketing director of the Tunisian Federation of hotels.
A disaster, since the establishment, renovated from top to bottom in 2010, has been enriched with a splendid thalassotherapy center and spa with twenty luxury suites and lavish facilities that could accommodate sixty patients a day, Royal Elyssa Thaslasso & Spa. Faten Zghal comment: "Luckily, in the month of May, arrangements have started pouring in and in June, we hope to fill an average of 70-75%."
Many and varied charms
Tunisia, as we have seen, has many and varied in the eyes of Romands charms. Hotelplan and Migros holidays, it is especially the spa stays that seduce customers. "Djerba is the flagship destination," notes Prisca Huguenin. He adds: "At Tourism for All, it is rather thalassotherapy, cultural tours and individual travel."
Air Marin finds his side a strong attraction for the Swiss boutique hotels, Tunisia sector developing for about a year. "There is a clear trend of people to taste the quality and upscale," says Michel Vargues. "Our customers are willing to pay a little more to get a flawless service on flights and hotels. Groups like Radisson prestige or Hasdrubal therefore have no need to worry. "
Very fashionable, boutique hotels
The hotels located in old homes of prestige either. Their charm is highly sought after and Tunisia last for a year or two on this tourist segment to attract visitors. If it is a popular town for travelers and artists for more than a century, it is Sidi Bou Said, including Café des Délices has been lovingly immortalized by Patrick Bruel.
Dar Said, notable tunisois house built in 1863 and converted into a hotel in 1948, is grown in the past without melancholy. Around patios sleepy 24 different rooms, each one more delicious than the last. Antique furniture, original bath rooms, colorful hangings, floor tiles and soft lights give them attractive, further enhanced with a flower garden where you take breakfast, nice pool and reading rooms.
"Everything has been renovated in 2001 to Dar Said the first boutique hotel in Tunisia," says its director for fourteen years Karim Ben Hassine Bey, a descendant of the aristocracy Tunis. "A specification for this type of hotel infrastructure exists since July 2013; a charter was drawn up by the Ministry of Tourism, and such institutions are increasing throughout the country. It is important for Tunisia to take tourism up and ensure proper staff training. "
For what audience? "A lot of French and English, but also Swiss, Italians and Spaniards. Our location in the upmarket suburb of Tunis, 1 km from Carthage, minutes of the Bardo Museum and Medina, allows us to target tourism cultural motivations. "Surely profile Moritz Leuenberger, who spent the last Dar Said in November 2005 at the World Summit on the information Society ...
Tunisia relies on its Mediterranean culture
Culture is, as well as the beach, a major tourist draw for Tunisia. Mediterranean civilization, the birthplace of Dido the Carthaginian, Roman territory for centuries, she participated in the advent of the three great monotheistic religions - Islam, Christianity, Judaism.
It has eight sites listed as World Heritage by UNESCO, the ruins of Carthage, Tunis Medina and that of Sousse, with its superb Ribat - fortress with the garrison responsible for defending the city, like Tunisia had a hundred all along its coast.
The Bardo Museum in Tunis, home to the finest collection of Roman mosaics in the country and that of Sousse, the second. Installed in 1951 in a part of the old Kasbah, the facility was expanded and renovated there eighteen months. Parasites buildings, a prison and barracks particular were demolished to showcase a beautiful showroom buried in the center of the central courtyard, which is accessed by a fortified gate from the middle ages. You can admire, besides the Roman and Christian mosaics, some beautiful Roman marbles and a nice collection of oil lamps.
The festivals are also part of the Tunisian cultural life. That of Carthage, held in the summer in the Roman amphitheater, is probably the best known. It now counts IAM and George Benson, Natalie Cole and Bon Iver, Youssou'n Dour and ... STROMAE!
Enjoy the benefits of the sea
Another highlight in the economy of Tunisia sector, thalassotherapy - or the therapeutic use of seawater and marine components: sludge, algae, minerals, etc. Around the country are exploited the wealth of the Mediterranean coast of Tabarka in Djerba via the shores of Carthage, Hammamet, Sousse, Port El Kantaoui, Monastir, Mahdia and Zarzis.
There are about fifty of spa centers and hotels associated with them, and for every budget. However, high-end care and luxurious amenities today clearly popular with the Swiss customer Romande in particular.
A Port El Kantaoui, the Hasdrubal Thalassa & Spa, set on the beach close to the marina and the seafront decorated shops and restaurants sea, is able to satisfy the most demanding guests with its 230 rooms. The center, with an area of 5500 m2, spread out around a large indoor saltwater pool nestled under a glass dome.
Hammam allows customers to experience a care in the purest oriental tradition, combing with black soap lavished in the rules of art by high matron colors and happy brushing Rassoul. About a third of customers come from outside. Among residents of the hotel, the French are the most numerous, followed by Switzerland and now the Russians.
"In Tunisia, there is not as couscous!"
But one of the most beautiful complex that one can find in Tunisia is certainly located in Monastir. It includes a luxury hotel, the Royal Thalassa and a thalassotherapy center with spa. Brand new, very luxurious and at the forefront of new technology equipment side, Royal Elyssa could only convince the most demanding: caring, focused, is provided by the excellent staff (60 employees for 60-goers); Products are chosen with care (Thalion for spa, Cinq Mondes spa for); twenty luxurious suites - some with private hot tub on their deck that - and located above the center allow a comfortable stay; a comprehensive gymnasium panorama of the offer.
Director, Corinne Palomba has built in thirty-year career, an internationally recognized expert in the spa and thalassotherapy name.
Do not spoil the hotel also offers its guests beautiful discoveries in its restaurants. "This summer, we are going to focus on Tunisian cuisine," said Erich Alauzen, press secretary of the Royal Thalassa. "It must not be supposed that in Tunisia there are the cuckoos! There are beautiful and rich in taste regional cuisines. It's time to change the image of Tunisia a few fast food where you do not move to the beach.
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