ADTA delegation visits Tunisia

Led by Nasser Al Reyami, Licensing and Classification Division Manager, the delegation met officials at the Tunisian National Chamber of Tourism, including Bubaker Al Hamlawi, Chairman of Tourism and Travel Guidance Department, Amal Zarouq from the Marketing Department, and Muiz Al Qarawi from the Hotels Classification Department.

The meeting discussed amongst other topics, types of tourism activities, classification, legislation and regulations, implementation mechanisms and licensing of travel agencies. The meeting further touched on the profession of tourist guides in terms of qualifications that must be possessed by the guides.

A set of new regulations planned to be implemented in Tunisia by the end of the year were also discussed.

The delegation that included Mohammed Yousef, Head of the Licensing Section at the ADTA visited a number of famous tourism areas including Hammamet which comprises several tourism facilities such as restaurants. Other mountainous and coastal areas such as Tabarka were visited by the delegation with the view of acquainting themselves with the industry.
The visit covered the Douz Region and its outlying areas such as the Zaafrane Desert. These areas share the same vegetation features as Al Ain and Liwa areas of Abu Dhabi Emirate.

According to Nasser Al Reyami, the visit of the delegation to Tunisia is in line with the ADTA's preparation to launch a licensing and classification system for the hotels in Abu Dhabi. This is also part of the efforts to upgrade the performance of the hotels in Abu Dhabi.

"Tunisia was chosen as the benchmark due to its increasing tourism growth rates", he said.
He added that Tunisia has seen a steady tourism growth, with the number of companies working in the industry soaring to 500 companies and more than 770 hotel facilities staffed by 1200 tourist guides.