The Adventure Travel Trade Association (ATTA) has recently launched a project to develop and promote Adventure & Outdoors Tourism in Tunisia. ATTA will work with the public and private sectors in Tunisia to unlock its Adventure Travel potential through the Adventure & Outdoors Tourism Development project in Tunisia (AOTD Tunis). The project aims to develop Adventure Travel products in four regions (Tozeur, Zaghouan, Mahdia, El Kef and the Northwest region) in Tunisia and create market linkages between tourism service providers and international markets.

The AOTD Tunis project implemented by the ATTA is under the “Promotion of Sustainable Tourism” project. The project “Promotion of Sustainable Tourism” is a joint action of the Ministry of Tourism , the European Union and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).

Project Objective 

The project aims to capitalize on the natural, cultural and historical assets of  four underserved regions in Tunisia to develop a more diversified and high quality Adventure Travel sector and strengthen the quality of the Tunisian Outdoor and Adventure tourism offers. The project will contribute to the diversification of the tourism industry in Tunisia and also enable the industry to increase its overall earnings and contribute more substantially to broad-based economic growth in Tunisia and improvement of the Tunisian Tourism labor market.

Geographic Scope 

The four regions nominated for this project are Tozeur, Zaghouan, Mahdia, El Kef and the Northwest region. These regions were selected for the project based on their outstanding variety and richness of cultural & natural assets that give Tunisia a competitive advantage, yet its tourism performance is below the potential it has. Also, the tourism industry in the respected regions has low resilience in the face of industry shocks, both security-related and otherwise. The local economies of these four regions have been significantly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Tozeur, Zaghouan, Mahdia, El Kef and the Northwest region have not only archeological and natural assets with high potential for Adventure Travel product development and innovation, but their communities are keen on developing its Adventure Travel offerings. 

The activities of the AOTD Tunis project are not only designed with special consideration on unique needs of each region, but addresses country level difficulties in the tourism industry, such as gender gap and youth employment, at a local level.

Project background 

Tourism is a key driver for the development of Tunisia’s economy, creating thousands of direct and indirect jobs.

In 2018, tourism already contributed to almost 14% of GDP and employed around 13% of the working population. However, tourism is concentrated mainly in the coastal areas. Economically weaker regions  do not benefit sufficiently from the sector’s big potential. In 2019 the country counted more than nine million international arrivals for the first time since 2011. Projections were really promising, but these efforts were hindered due to COVID 19 pandemic.  Tourism was one of the hardest hit sectors by the COVID-19 pandemic. The absence of visitors has resulted in loss of income, and many  have lost their jobs and businesses. Women and youth are among the most vulnerable to the impact of COVID-19 on Tourism. In response, the Tunisian government created a vision to develop a sustainable and responsible tourism that revitalizes the country's economy, creates jobs and offers new products which add value to the special characteristics of its diverse regions.

At the same time, the mindset of the travelers in this “new normal” has evolved . They changed their views on sustainable travel because of the pandemic. More travelers search out for sustainable accommodations; responsible and authentic travel. The ATTA has been tracking travel trends since the start of the pandemic. Its research shows that travelers want the ability to avoid crowded places, take an outdoor/nature trip. They seek wide-open spaces,outdoors activities, slow travel, and engaging with local communities, which are all hallmarks of adventure travel. Addressing these trends is instrumental for the recovery of the travel industry.