Southern Tunisian port city becomes major Mediterranean cruise ship destination
Tunis , June 6, 2007 (TunisiaOnline) --During the last 6 years, the Governorate of Gabes, south of Tunisia , has become one of the Mediterranean 's major cruise ship destinations.
Indeed, since 2000, the trade harbor of Gabes , one of the Tunisia 's largest and best equipped ports, has witnessed the docking of some 45 large cruise ships. Recently, the “Costa Victoria ”, a sea monster capable of carrying some 3,500 passengers docked in Gabes with more than 2000 tourists onboard.
With some 19,000 cruise ship visitors last year, Gabes witnessed a tremendous rise in the number of ships that docked in its port. This unprecedented flow of tourists coincides with the creation in the region of the Regional Tourism Office, an organization which aims at providing the best stopover facilities and services to visitors.
So far, the number of tourists that landed in the area has reached an impressive 44,000.
For many of the visitors coming from Germany , Italy , Great Britain , France , the USA , Australia and Japan , the stop over in one of Tunisia 's greatest southern cities is an opportunity to get a strong flavor of the country's magical south.
Tour operators eager to attract cruise ship visitors to the local tourist sites, compete in setting up a rich and varied program that take tourists respectively to Chenini that boasts the biggest maritime oasis in the world, the market of Djara famous for its “Henne”, the handicraft shop as well as the Museum of customs and popular mores of Sidi Boulbaba.
The Regional Tourism Office also organizes several excursions to Matmata, known for its well-conserved its troglodytes and its Berber heritage and El Hamma famous for its thermal waters.
It is worth noting that cruise ship tourism which makes up 20% of the global number of tourists in the region (about 102,000) represents an important source of income for many of the area's inhabitants.
Tunisia
ranking in recent World Reports