Kuwaiti investments in Tunisia's tourism sector total $50 million, including 27 hotel projects, the director of the Tunisian National Tourism Office Saifallah Al-Asram told the Kuwait News Agency KUNA , Sunday, December 9. Funds are funneled mainly through two joint investment bodies, the Tunisia-Kuwait Development Bank and the Kuwaiti-Tunisian Investment Group, which owns several tourism facilities in Tunisia.
Kuwait is the largest foreign investor in the Tunisian hotel sector. Kuwait’s total investments in Tunisia are second among Arab investments only to Saudi Arabia’s, and are followed by UAE, Libyan and Qatari funds. European investment funds originate mainly from Germany and France.
Al-Asram headed a Tunisian delegation whose three-day visit was aimed at promoting Gulf tourism in Tunisia. The delegation met with local travel agents. Although Gulf Cooperation Countries (GCC) nationals are exempted from visa issuance when traveling to Tunisia, the number of Kuwaitis selecting the North African country as their travel destination is still below expectations, and is estimated at a mere 2,000 to 3,000 in recent years, the official noted.
Al-Asram said that the Tunisian tourism sector in growing by six percent annually, however he did not elaborate on the implications of the global slowdown in tourism following the September terror attacks on the US. — (menareport.com)
© 2001 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
