Tunisia is transforming its image from a hive of all-inclusive budget resorts into a destination with more diverse offerings and visitor profiles. Hilton’s Collini is bullish: “Tunisia is expecting record tourist numbers with 29% growth in arrivals by the end of the year” — quite a rebound after 2015 attacks in Tunis and Sousse.
According to Colliers’ Lund, leisure tourism is expected to recover gradually as hotels target new source markets and travel restrictions are lifted. “When European holiday tourism to Tunisia dropped, hotels shifted focus to Asian and regional customers,” he says, “so new hotel development must appeal to a variety of source markets to ensure long-term success with reduced risk.”
According to the Tunisian National Tourist Office, arrivals from China have escalated since 90-day visa-free travel launched in February 2017, with 40,000 predicted for 2018 compared with 18,000 last year. Lund says the potential for increased Chinese tourism will largely be based on projects by Chinese firms in the country, as well as growth in economic activity between the two countries.
According to Hotel Partners Africa’s Harper, Tunisia has 21 proposed new branded hotels, comprising 4,279 further guest rooms, with 15 properties under construction. Trevor Ward, managing director, W Hospitality Group, says Accor, Radisson, and Minor are developing resorts and upper-midscale properties, and reports that Group du Louvre’s Golden Tulip African inventory will rise from 474 rooms in 2017 to 1,662 rooms in 2018, of which 1,300 are due to open in Tunisia.
“Values have plummeted since the Sousse attacks and are just starting to turn around from their lowest recorded value,” Harper says. “They stood at $149,900/guest room in 2017, which was a 3.6% per annum drop in value over the last eight years.”
Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts’ Chief Development Officer Andrew Langdon sees development in 3-, 4- and 5-star hotels, with many older ones renovated and rebranded. The Plaza Sfax and Spa Hotel will become the fourth Mövenpick-managed Tunisian property by year-end, following the opening of the Hotel du Lac Tunis in April.
The brand plans to expand in North Africa by a third over the next few years and sees good opportunities in extended-stay serviced apartments. With travel bans lifted in most areas, visitors will come back, particularly since Thomas Cook and TUI have resumed operations. Ward says tour operators had been reluctant to return due to insurance liability, but “tourists have short memories.”
“The challenge is to get hotels built. Lenders must work with investors for a long time,” says Ward. “Investors want stability and to know decision-making is coherent so they won’t suffer from policy changes.”
A harbinger of confidence came with the December 2017 opening of the Four Seasons Hotel Tunis. Six Senses Hotels Resorts Spas plans a property in Gammarth, while Marriott confirms that a Ritz-Carlton Tunis is slated to open in 2023.