An 18 March terrorist attack on a Tunis museum that killed 21, mostly tourists on a cruise, has been claimed by Islamic State (IS). With the country’s oil and gas output in precipitous decline, this risks knocking out a second pillar of the Tunisian economy – tourism.
Tourism accounts for 7% of the country’s GDP, a share that was much higher before the 2011 revolution that overthrew former dictator Ben Ali. Tunisia had hoped that 2015 would be the year that tourists returned to the country. Such hopes now look forlorn. As a group claiming IS affiliation warned of further attacks, the Italian cruise company Costa Crociere said it had cancelled stops at Tunisian ports for security reasons. (CONTINUED - 266 WORDS)
