Tunisia sees sharp rise in foreign tourist arrivals

TUNIS, Dec. 14 (Xinhua) -- The number of foreign tourists visiting Tunisia from Jan. 12 to Dec. 10 grew 23 percent from the same period last year, the Tunisian Ministry of Tourism said Thursday.

In the period, the total number of foreign tourists visiting Tunisia hit 6,545,000, exceeding the ministry's previous forecast.

The number of European tourists, including 543,000 French and 514,000 Russians, increased 20 percent to 1,646,000, according to the ministry.

As for the Maghreb market including Algeria, Libya and Morocco, the balance sheet shows a rise of 31 percent with a flow of 3,537,000 tourists to Tunisia.

Algeria tops the list with 2,236,000 tourists visiting Tunisia, the ministry said.