Risk & Crisis Management in Tourism Sector:
Recovery from Crisis
in the OIC Member Countries
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products in the interior regions and the desert. In terms of human resources, investment in
training also expanded, with the establishment of 8 state tourism training centers.
4.3.2. Crises Affecting Tunisian Tourism
Tunisia enjoyed political stability from the late eighties to 2008, during which period its tourism
industry developed. However, since then a number of incidents have affected the sector.
2008 Gafsa Mining Basin: In January, people in the Gafsa phosphate mining area in
southwestern Tunisia demanded social. The developments lasted for over six months. In 2008,
tourism had reached a high point in terms of international tourism arrivals and earnings but in
the following year arrivals declined by about 145,000 visitors and a loss of about US$ 180
million. From then on, the unstable atmosphere cast its shadow on the tourism sector, impacting
on the image of Tunisia as a safe destination and resulting in a decline in international arrivals
from 6.9 million in 2010 to 4.78 million in 2011, and a decline in earnings of US$ 840 million
compared to the previous year. Tunisia was also affected by unrest in neighbouring countries
from 2011 onwards, including the uprising in Libya which resulted in thousands of people
fleeing to Tunisia to escape the fighting.
However, Russians and other East Europeans had gone through similar experiences to Tunisia
in their own countries not long before and these markets proved more resilient to the crisis. In
2012, while arrivals from the traditional source markets of Western Europe declined, East
European and Russian visitors significantly increased (Zouaoui, pers. comm., 2017). The
estimated increase for 2012 over 2011 was 33% for tourists from Russia, 66% for Ukraine and
10% from the Czech Republic. Regional visitors from the Maghreb countries, especially Libya
and Algeria, were also relatively stable, with 2.8m in 2012, 3.2m in 2013 and 2.9m visitors in
2014.
Political Developments in 2010 Onwards: Although political developments took place in 2010
and onwards the image of Tunisia was somewhat restored. During 2014 tourist receipts
increased by 10.7% in compared to 2013, reaching close to the level of 2010.
Bardo Museum attack 2015: The Bardo Museum in Tunis was attacked by terrorists on 18
March with 22 people killed, mainly European tourists, and over 50 people injured (BBC News,
2015a). This was a particular shock as it was the first attack targeting international tourists. On
March 29 tens of thousands of demonstrators marched through the streets of Tunis against
terrorism with the participation of the President of France, the Italian Prime Minister and
several other world leaders. The previous day a police raid on the group responsible for the
attack killed 9 of its members, and several other actions were taken to improve the security and
ensure safety of tourists . The impact on the image of the country was significant.
Attack in Sousse, June 2015: A gunman fired on tourists at the tourist resort of Port El Kantaoui,
about 10 km north of Sousse, killing 38 tourists. The hotel was hosting over five hundred guests
at the time, mainly from Western Europe (BBC News, 2015b). This crisis had an immediate
impact as it happened in the middle of the holiday season. The UK government issued an