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Tunisia’s Tourism Returns Drop by 64%

Concerns were voiced over the reopening of Tunisia’s borders to tourists. (Reuters)
Concerns were voiced over the reopening of Tunisia’s borders to tourists. (Reuters)
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Tunisia’s Tourism Returns Drop by 64%

Concerns were voiced over the reopening of Tunisia’s borders to tourists. (Reuters)
Concerns were voiced over the reopening of Tunisia’s borders to tourists. (Reuters)

Tunisia’s tourism returns have dropped by 64 percent to 1.9 billion dinars ($691 million) from early 2020 until December 10, compared to the same period in 2019.

According to the Tourism Ministry, returns had amounted to 5.3 billion dinars (about $1.9 billion) in 2019, according to the latest data published by the Central Bank of Tunisia (BCT).

This drop is mainly due to the decrease in the number of European tourists (especially French and German) during the summer season, greatly affecting the entire system associated with the tourism sector, including traditional industries, travel agencies, and car rental companies.

On June 27, Tunisia reopened its border and scheduled the full return of the tourism activity starting July. However, the rapid coronavirus outbreak in neighboring European countries and the start of a second wave of infections prevented any positive outcomes.

In this context, Tourism Minister Habib Ammar said tourism activities and traditional industries are in a state of complete paralysis after the rise in the number of COVID-19 infections.

Data from his ministry showed that the number of tourists arriving so far in Tunisia has fallen by 78 percent compared to the same period in 2019 and tourism revenues dropped by 64 percent.

In order to address this exceptional situation, the government approved a set of incentive measures aimed at preserving the institutions operating in tourism and traditional industries.

The government also decided to exempt travel agencies from contributing to the Development Fund for Competitiveness in Tourism.

It further approved to enable unemployed workers and tourist guides from a monthly grant of 200 Tunisian dinars (about $72.7).

The tourism ministry prepared a program to stimulate domestic tourism until late March 2021 to compensate for the severe shortfall in European tourism markets, in particular, and in tourists from the Maghreb region, especially Algeria and Libya.

Domestic tourism does not represent more than 10 percent of all tourism activities, yet the ministry is working to raise this rate to about 25 percent, saving a significant number of Tunisian tourist hotels from closing.

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US Treasury Targets Russia's Gazprombank with New Sanctions

FILE PHOTO: A bronze seal for the Department of the Treasury is shown at the US Treasury building in Washington, US, January 20, 2023. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A bronze seal for the Department of the Treasury is shown at the US Treasury building in Washington, US, January 20, 2023. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/File Photo
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US Treasury Targets Russia's Gazprombank with New Sanctions

FILE PHOTO: A bronze seal for the Department of the Treasury is shown at the US Treasury building in Washington, US, January 20, 2023. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A bronze seal for the Department of the Treasury is shown at the US Treasury building in Washington, US, January 20, 2023. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/File Photo

The United States imposed new sanctions on Russia's Gazprombank on Thursday, the Treasury Department said, as President Joe Biden steps up actions to punish Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine before he leaves office in January.
The move, which wields the department's most powerful sanctions tool, effectively kicks Gazprombank out of the US banking system, bans its trade with Americans and freezes its US assets, Reuters reported.
Gazprombank is one of Russia's largest banks and is partially owned by Kremlin-owned gas company Gazprom. Since Russia's invasion in February 2022, Ukraine has been urging the US to impose more sanctions on the bank, which receives payments for natural gas from Gazprom's customers in Europe.
The fresh sanctions come days after the Biden administration allowed Kyiv to use US ATACMS missiles to strike Russian territory. On Tuesday, Ukraine fired the weapons, the longest range missiles Washington has supplied for such attacks on Russia, on the war's 1,000th day.
The Treasury also imposed sanctions on 50 small-to-medium Russian banks to curtail the country's connections to the international financial system and prevent it from abusing it to pay for technology and equipment needed for the war. It warned that foreign financial institutions that maintain correspondent relationships with the targeted banks "entails significant sanctions risk."
"This sweeping action will make it harder for the Kremlin to evade US sanctions and fund and equip its military," Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said. "We will continue to take decisive steps against any financial channels Russia uses to support its illegal and unprovoked war in Ukraine."
Gazprombank said Washington's latest move would not affect its operations. The Russian embassy in Washington did not respond to requests for comment.
Along with the sanctions, Treasury also issued two new general licenses authorizing US entities to wind down transactions involving Gazprombank, among other financial institutions, and to take steps to divest from debt or equity issued by Gazprombank.
Gazprombank is a conduit for Russia to purchase military materiel in its war against Ukraine, the Treasury said. The Russian government also uses the bank to pay its soldiers, including for combat bonuses, and to compensate the families of its soldiers killed in the war.
The administration believes the new sanctions improve Ukraine's position on the battlefield and ability to achieve a just peace, a source familiar with the matter said.
COLLATERAL IMPACT
While Gazprombank has been on the administration's radar for years, it has been seen as a last resort because of its focus on energy and the desire to avoid collateral impact on Europe, a Washington-based trade lawyer said.
"I think that the current administration is trying to put as much pressure and add as many sanctions as possible prior to January 20th to make it harder for the next administration to unwind," said the lawyer, Douglas Jacobson.
Officials in Slovakia and Hungary said they were studying the impacts of the new US sanctions.
Trump would have the power to remove the sanctions, which were imposed under an executive order by Biden, if he wants to take a different stance, Jacobson said.
After Russia's invasion in 2022, the Treasury placed debt and equity restrictions on 13 Russian firms, including Gazprombank, Sberbank and the Russian Agricultural Bank.
The US Treasury has also worked to provide Ukraine with funds from windfall proceeds of frozen Russian assets.