"Perhaps the most surprising aspect of my August trip to Tunisia, was not how few tourists I encountered but how full the hotels were, with the exception of the hotel in the middle of Tunis medina in which I had elected to spend my first of twenty-one nights.
That was so empty that I had to phone the owner, Mounir, to come to open it for me. I’d reserved online and been rather optimistic with my arrival time. When I failed to keep the appointment with my ETA, Mounir had assumed that this British tourist had taken FCO advice and decided not to travel.
Demonstrating the hospitality for which Tunisia is renowned, Mounir pitched up at 2.30am with a chilled bottle of water and an electric fan, both of which came in handy, given that, even in the early hours, it was still 29 degrees centigrade.
He explained that he had beds for more than 40 guests, but if business had been difficult after the March incident at the Bardo Museum, things had become impossible following the events of late June on a beach in Sousse. I was his only guest. He was very worried for the future. His hotel is a fine old palace and income is needed for the upkeep. One bed night at 30 dinars (£10) was not going to cover that. He felt that the tourists would never come back.
There were no such problems in Hammamet. The hotels were full, although with Algerians and Tunisians, and only for August. And as hotel owners, taxi drivers and Hamouda in the Brothers’ Shop in Hammamet medina pointed out, they don’t spend at the bar, have their own cars so won’t need a taxi and are unlikely to purchase souvenirs.
Summer was not going to be very profitable and winter was going to feel extremely long. The lean times would be starting on September 1 and not ending until, well, who knows when?
