Tunisia’s Tourism Office: “Welcome To Algerians In Tunisia And No Charges For Them In Our Hotels”!

The Tunisian Federation of Hostelry has accused shadowy parties of attempting to “smear” its tourist destination in the eyes of Algerians by purporting “fake” news alledging that hotels there will slap further fees on families and tourists who have chosen Tunisia for their summer holidays.
A number of Algerian families are said to have been expelled from Tunisian hotels during the past few days while they were in Tunisia, in addition to imposing on them an additional 30 per cent on tourist fees.
The same body said that the accusations against Tunisian hotels were “false”, stressing that there are some media outlets which are bent on tarnishing the Tunisian destination for Algerian tourists.
“The prices are fixed and subject to the agreement set by Tunisian and Algerian tourist dealers within their prior agreements,” the Tunisian hotel federation stressed.
Unconfirmed reports spoke of a number of Algerian families being expelled by Tunisian hotels because of an additional tax burden which sparked off a widespread debate on social networking sites.
Tunisia’s Director of the National Tourism Office, Mr. Fouad El-Wad, said in this respect that the Algerian “enjoys preferential treatment during his selection of the Tunisian destination, and that it cannot be abandoned as soon as foreign tourists notably Europeans arrive in Tunisian cities.”
Mr. Al-Wad said in a statement to “Echorouk” that the Tunisian Ministry of Tourism had not received any complaints from Algerians for mistreatment, although, he said, this possibility could occur not only with the Algerians but also with tourists of other nationalities, but they remain very isolated cases.
“It is true that tourist hotels are subject to the private sector, but remain under the tutelage of the Tunisian Ministry of Tourism, which stresses the imperious need for all guests of Tunisia to be warmly welcomed and well received.”
Mr. Fouad Al-Wad further revealed that the Tunisian Minister of Tourism had contacted the Algerian Ambassador in Tunisia to inquire about the reported expulsion of families from Tunisian hotels, adding that the Algerian tourists are very important for the Tunisians as a large number of them regularly prefer the Tunisia destination during the whole year and most especially during the summer season.
“Talking about charging with additional fees the Algerians is meaningless because these services are governed by agreements that cannot be breached, and if this is done, the Tunisian Ministry of Tourism will not waver to take deterrent measures if need be,” he underscored to this effect.