Tunisian Minister of Tourism and Handicrafts Visits WTCF Secretariat with Delegation

On January 29th, H.E. Mrs. Salma Elloumi Rekik, Minister of Tourism and Handicrafts, visited the WTCF Secretariat with a delegation, and had a work meeting.

Deputy Secretary-General Yan Han introduced WTCF’s foundation, development, member services and other factors, and emphasized his introduction of the case and experience when WTCF worked to promote the tourism development of Morocco. Before the 2015 Fragrant Hills Tourism Summit held in Morocco, WTCF organized its institutional members and travel agency buyers to visit Morocco to collect tourism information, and pushed forward China’s renowned travel agencies’ hosting of the “Thousands of Tourists to Magnificent Morocco”, which directly influenced the release of Morocco’s free visa policy for Chinese citizens in 2016. Since then, the number of Chinese visitors traveling to Morocco has rapidly increased, from more than 10,000 visitors in 2015 to 100,000 visitors.

Mrs. Salma Elloumi Rekik expressed the interest in the experience of Morocco, and introduced the tourism resources and tourism status of Tunisia. She said, “Tunisia has been committed to promoting the Mediterranean tourism industry to tourists in Europe and Africa for decades. In recent year, we are also starting to focus on the Chinese market. As a very important tourist group, Chinese tourists have unique needs and distinctive features.” With its platform and resources of WTCF, Tunisia is looking forward to promoting Tunisian tourism products in Chinese travel agencies and developing suitable destinations for Chinese tourists. Minister Salma Elloumi Rekik said she will also promote Tunisia's tourist cities to join WTCF and she also expressed the hope that Tunisia will be able to cooperate with WTCF in organizing a convention in the future.

Liujin, Vice President of China Comfort Travel, gave a brief introduction to China Comfort Travel and its North African travel products. He praised Tunisia for its rich tourism resources and unique customs, which are all considered as important factors in attracting Chinese tourists to visit Tunisia. He hopes to promote more Chinese tourists to visit Tunisia through cooperation between the two sides. Minister Salma Elloumi Rekik showed great interest in China Comfort Travel and their cooperation proposal, and hopes to have the opportunity to cooperate with the institution the future.