Mrs Elloumi: “We Don’t Prefer European Tourists Over Algerians … These Are The Reasons Behind Ongoing Disinformation Campaign”

Tunisian Tourism and Handicraft Minister Mrs Selma Elloumi said that there is an ongoing disinformation campaign with the dissemination of incorrect information on the tourism sector in her country on the part of some Algerians who speak of “mistreatment in Tunisian hotels with on focus the European tourists’ preference over them in Tunisia.
Speaking in an interview with a local radio station on Tuesday, the Tunisian official said that the information about the alleged ill-treatment of Algerians was completely untrue and was based on baseless statements issued by some ill-advised Algerian travel agencies, stressing that the “Algerian tourists are being very well treated in Tunisia, adding that what is being published on the pseudo mistreatment of Algerians there is utterly incorrect.”
“The evidence that the Algerian tourist feels comfortable and well treated in Tunisia is a record 14 percent hike this year in the overall number of Algerian tourists who chose the Tunisia destination and this is a record in itself,” she asserted.
The minister pointed to the 1.1 million Algerians who have entered Tunisia from the beginning of the year until the end of July, stressing that this large number of incoming Algerian tourists is expected to reach 3 million by the end of the year 2018.
“Some regrettable mishaps have occurred to Algerian and Tunisian tourists because they did not make early hotel reservations despite the fact that we’ve launched a wide publicity campaign to encourage early booking by travel agencies so as to enjoy significant discounts,” Mrs Elloumi explained.
She noted, to this effect, that in recent years the focus has been on three tourism markets including Algeria, Russia and China.
The Tunisian Minister also underscored that “Tunisians and Algerians are brothers while recalling that the Algerians heartily supported Tunisia when it was subjected to heinous terrorist attacks in recent years”.