Tunisia,Jendouba - The value of tourism investments under construction and investment intentions in Jendouba governorate exceeds TND 400 million, Regional Tourism Commissioner in Tabarka Issa Marouani said.

About 1,000 additional jobs are expected to be created over the next few years following the completion of all these tourism projects, he added in an interview with TAP.

The investment intentions are at an advanced stage in the preparation of studies and are awaiting licences to begin work, he specified.

The official underlined the need to complete these projects, especially since the capacity of the tourist area in Tabarka is still very limited, as it does not exceed 4,321 beds and hopefully it will reach 10,000 beds.

He reviewed a number of tourism investments in the field of hotels and residences, such as an integrated resort project consisting of apartments, villas, shops and water games in the Marjan area in Tabarka at a cost of about TND 200 million.

Work on this project has achieved about 40% progress and is scheduled to be completed by 2027, he said.

Other projects include a five-star hostel with a 100-bed capacity that is 65% complete, and two closed hostels are being reinvested in while others are being sold, the official pointed out.

Two closed hotels had been sold by two banks and two others are still awaiting investors, the regional tourism commissioner indicated.

The four hotels have been closed since 2011 following the revolution, one of which had been looted and vandalised, he said, adding that one of the reasons for the shutdown is that investors had failed to honour loan repayment commitments made by the banks.

A Qatari investor had purchased one of these hotels at a cost of TND 300 million with a capacity of 750 beds and is currently in the process of conducting studies, Marouani explained.

A Tunisian-Canadian investor had purchased another hotel for TND 6.5 million, with a capacity of 132 beds. Its refurbishment works are at 98% and it is scheduled to open in May 2025, the official specified.

A project of a green hospital in Beni Mtir, consisting of suites at a total cost of TND 16 million, owned by a Tunisian investor, is expected to open partially in 2025, he announced.

"The development of tourism activity in Jendouba is inevitably through the stimulation of private investments that take into account the ecological, environmental, cultural, hospital and sports characteristics and utilise them to serve tourism," he stated, adding that the Ministry of Tourism's general orientation is based on the need to create a non-traditional product to diversify and enrich the tourism offer."

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