HAMMAMET: Policemen on horseback amble among the sunbathers and new metal detectors dot hotel entrances in Tunisia as the North African country seeks to bring back tourists a year after a seaside massacre.
Authorities and hotel managers hope improved security will help to win back the trust of holidaymakers on the first anniversary of the jihadist attack that killed 38 tourists at a beach resort.
“We used to sell sunshine and beaches. Today, we sell sunshine, beaches and security,” says Anis Souissi, who manages a seaside hotel south of Tunis.
Before its 2011 revolution, Tunisia attracted almost seven million visitors a year, with its tourism sector accounting for seven per cent of GDP.
The beach bloodbath was the second of two deadly jihadist attacks that dealt heavy blows to the key industry last year, following four years of decline due to political instability.
Tourists fled in horror on June 26, as a Tunisian gunman pulled a Kalashnikov rifle from inside a furled beach umbrella and went on a shooting spree outside a five-star hotel near the city of Sousse.
It came just months after 21 tourists and a policeman were killed in another jihadist attack at the Bardo National Museum in Tunis.
A year on, the country’s tourism sector is still reeling.
Revenues for the first quarter of this year were down by 51.7 per cent compared to last year, according to the central bank.
European visitors to the country in 2015 had already dropped by 65.8 per cent compared to 2010.
Anyone suspicious checked
As high season kicks off in Tunisia, authorities and tourism firms are hoping to boost confidence and encourage bookings with increased security checks.
The interior ministry has said that 70 mobile police posts have been set up on beaches, with around 1,500 more policemen deployed to protect tourists this year — on top of 1,000 additional security personnel deployed last year.