MADRID — Tunisian Prime Minister Habib Essid says his country needs jobs to counter the threat of terror attacks like the two this year that targeted tourists, but his nation’s important tourism sector won’t fully recover for another two to three years.
Tourism receipts are down 21% since 2010, while arrivals are down 31% and global nights down 43%.
Essid tells The Associated Press in an interview that the unemployment rate in Tunisia is the biggest risk factor for future attacks.
Essid spoke Tuesday ahead of his appearance at an international conference on extremism by the Madrid Club group of former global leaders and heads of state.
An attack in March on the Bardo Museum killed 21 people. In June, 38 died in an attack at a resort in Sousse.
Most of those killed in the attacks were tourists.
Figures from the Ministry of Tourism and Handicrafts from January to September, 2015 show the following:
| Parameters | 2010 | 2014 | 2015 | Gap in % 2015/2014 |
Gap in % 2015/2010 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tourist receipts in MDT | 2.643,0 | 2.745,3 | 1.873,6 | -31,8 | -21 |
| Global nights | 29.114.117 |  24.244.820 |
14.006.524 | -42,2 | -42,9 |
| Arrivals to the borders | 6.187.444 | 5.780.034 | 4.262.149 | -26,3 | -31.1 |
Source : Direction of Studies
