Tunisia’s tourism sector is taking in blows as the COVID-19 pandemic shows no signs of relenting, according to media reports.
Efforts by the government to relax quarantine rules for package tours have done little to attract tourists to the North African country.
"There are no tourists and the beach is empty. It is very sad," Tatiana Vasileva, one of the two visiting Bulgarians was quoted as saying by Reuters.
An antique shop owner Aroussi Obay said he was forced to invest his savings into olive oil production to raise money as his business took a nosedive.
Camel owner Fathi Bouzayan, whose family had been offering camel rides in El Jem for generations said his business was on its knees.
"I'm eating into my savings," he said.
Meanwhile, tourism minister Habib Ammar said his country wants to vaccinate workers in the sector to encourage visitors.
"Unfortunately there is a problem with the vaccine stocks, which did not allow the implementation of this strategy," he said.
Tourism used to account for about a tenth of the economy before the pandemic.
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