Two cruise ships from European ports docked Thursday at the port of La Goulette, a third might not dock due to weather conditions, marking an effective resumption of this activity in Tunisia, following the hard blow that brought regarding by the terrorist attack on the Bardo Museum in 2015.
The cruise ship “MSC Opera”, coming from Barcelona and bound for Palermo, docked on Thursday morning at the port of La Goulette, with 1,626 people on board (passengers and crew). Another cruise ship “Island Sky” carrying 137 people (crew and passengers) from the port of e Trapani (Italy) to Callieri (Italy) also made a stopover at the port of Sousse on May 3, indicated the Ministry of Tourism in a press release published Thursday evening.
A third cruise ship “Nieuw Statendam” which was carrying 2,421 people was also due to arrive in Tunisia, but might not dock due to the deteriorating weather situation. Accompanied by other members of the government, the Minister of Tourism Moez Bel Hassen went to the port of La Goulette on Thursday, where he met officials of the international cruise company “MSC Opera”, including Vice-President Elisabetta De Nardo and the European Union Ambassador to Tunisia, Marcus Cornaro. This meeting was devoted to examining the means to develop the activity of the company “Msc Opera” in Tunisia and to promote cruise tourism, according to the same source. On this occasion, emphasis was placed on the need to generalize this activity to all Tunisian ports including the port of Zarzis and on the predisposition of the Ministry of Transport to facilitate the development of cruise tourism.
Twenty-one foreign tourists – mostly cruise ship passengers – and a police officer were killed on March 18, 2015 in the attack on the Bardo Museum in Tunis. Despite a symbolic resumption of this activity since 2016, Tunisian ports have not regained their former rhythm. The coronavirus pandemic has further delayed the recovery in this area. The stopovers of cruise passengers bring a whole dynamic to the souks of the medina of Tunis and delight its craftsmen.
