Troubled states in North Africa need to woo back French

The tourism industries of Tunisia and Morocco have, to put it mildly, known troubled times of late.

Tunisia virtually disappeared as a holiday destination during the chaotic days of its revolution that began in mid-January.

Morocco has hardly had time to contemplate the likely impact, in the short term at least, of the bombing of Jamaa el-Fnaasquare, a magnet for every visitor to Marrakech, late last month.

These momentous events leave both countries with much work to do to restore confidence in the relative tranquillity and warmth of welcome they have traditionally been able to offer.

Nowhere is the need to ease holidaymakers' concerns more obvious than France. Some 20 per cent of foreigners visiting Morocco are French and Tunisia is the major overseas destination from France, with only Libya exceeding it in volume - about 1.47 million compared with 1.23 million French, according to 2006 figures.

Immediately after the April 28 bombing, Morocco understandably gave priority to the care of the injured, repatriation of the dead and investigation of the attack.

But as news media quoted some departing holidaymakers expressing fears about returning to the country, the Moroccan tourism minister Yassir Znagui pointedly visited a hospital where many of the victims were being treated.

Half of the 16 dead were French, and while Mr Znagui stressed that it was "difficult to talk about the consequences", it was not difficult to imagine what must have been going through his mind.

For Morocco, then, economic concerns will be addressed when the moment is right. But for the Tunisians, that time is considered to have arrived.

Mehdi Houas, the Tunisian minister of commerce and tourism, visited Paris last week to launch the French part of what he called an unprecedented campaign, costing the government and tourism industry €30 million (Dh157.8m), to persuade people to return in numbers.

French ministers and travel trade representatives were among those invited to a plush hotel in one of the smartest of Parisian locations, between the Tuileries and the Place Vendome, to fete "a night of jasmine".

In an interview for the business section of the leading French daily newspaper Le Figaro, Mr Houas spelt out the hard facts behind the initiative. Only 450,000 tourists were counted in the first quarter of this year - a "very bad" figure even for low season - and reservations for the summer are 80 per cent down.

But he does not believe he is clutching at straws in regarding this as normal in the circumstances: "Families, who are the holidaymakers booking trips earliest in the year, need reassurance. But now, security is no longer in question. I am convinced that we can, by keeping up our efforts, get back up to 60 per cent of last year's levels."

For Mr Houas, Tunisia already offers the best value-for-money holiday options on either side of the Mediterranean, and it may well be that the French who do go there are, to some extent, voting with their passports against the high cost of staying in their favoured playgrounds along the Cote d'Azur.

"But we have much more to offer than that," said Mr Houas. "This year we're saying to the tourist who has the habit of staying in his hotel, eating Europeanised food, that he should now discover Tunisia and the Tunisians, our own traditional cuisine and ancient crafts."

Tunisians officials involved in his visit readily confirm they also hope their country becomes increasingly attractive to visitors from the UAE and neighbouring countries.

And in case anyone is still worried about post-revolutionary Tunisia, the minister has this message: "There will be no turning back; freedom is too beautiful."

At the jasmine night in Paris, he was keen to emphasise Tunisia's historic treasures, observing that his country had seven World Heritage sites compared with Egypt's four.

The point was taken, although Mr Houas may wish to revise his mathematics: Unesco's own official list makes it eight in Tunisia, from the wonders of Carthage to the medinas of Tunis and Sousse, against seven in Egypt.