The ship “MSC Grandiosa” should dock, on Thursday, at the port of La Goulette, with 5,500 tourists on board, thus marking the start of the cruise tourism season, the Ministry of Transport announced on Wednesday. The port of La Goulette will receive an average of two trips per week, bringing the number to about 45 services and 200 thousand tourists, the same source added in a statement. It added that tourists will visit archaeological and tourist sites of the capital and its surroundings within the framework of organised trips. In 2022, about 37 cruises carrying nearly 55 thousand tourists docked at the port of La Goulette, after a break of nearly three years. Cruise tourism has been affected since the terrorist attack on the Bardo Museum in 2015, (22 dead) and other attacks that followed which prompted several countries to impose travel restrictions to Tunisia. In 2010, Tunisia welcomed nearly 900 thousand cruise passengers, but the number was reduced to between 450 thousand and 600 thousand tourists during the period 2012-2014, before falling further in recent years. Cruise tourists are usually welcomed at the port of La Goulette, where they visit the tourist village of La Goulette which offers Tunisian handicrafts before visiting the Medina of Tunis and some archaeological sites.
Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse (TAP)