WATCH ABOVE: Tunisian authorities make nine arrests in connection with attack at Bardo National Museum.
The attack on a popular museum in Tunisia’s capital on Wednesday could be a major blow to an industry that is crucial to the North African nation’s economy — tourism.
Tunisia emerged from the so-called Arab Spring with more stability and prosperity than most other countries who had civil uprisings but fell into states of violent political upheaval (Egypt and Yemen) or civil war (Syria and Libya).
Its economy hasn’t been great since the late 2010-2011 protests — demonstrations that inspired movements in many other Arab nations — but it has grown somewhat.
“Tunisia presents an economic paradox. It has everything it needs to become a’Tiger of the Mediterranean,’ yet this economic potential never seems to materialize,” read a World Bank report published last fall.
Tourism has been a contributor to its economic growth, making up about 7 per cent of the country’s gross domestic product, according to Reuters. The industry employs approximately 400,000 people.
Wednesday’s attack took place at a top tourist destination in the Tunisian capital, Tunis.
The gunmen, reportedly aligned with the extremist group ISIS, opened fire on tour buses outside the Bardo National Museum, just steps away from Tunisia’s parliament, killing 19 foreign tourists and two Tunisians and injuring dozens more, before taking hostages inside the museum.
Security forces eventually took down the two shooters and have since arrested nine other people in connection with the attack.
READ MORE: 1 gunman known to intelligence before deadly Tunisian museum attack
“There’s a clear logic at work when terrorists attack tourists: Not only do these attacks spread terror internationally, they also have a negative effect on the economy of the local government,” the Washington Post‘s Adam Taylor wrote on Thursday.
If those were the goals of the attackers, they may have succeeded to some extent.
Some of the victims of Wednesday’s attack arrived on cruise ships — the Costa Fascinosa, belonging to Costa Cruises, and the MSC Cruise Lines’ Splendida.
Nine of the Splendida’s passengers were killed in the assault outside the Bardo National Museum, 12 suffered injuries and six were unaccounted for when the ship left port Thursday morning with some 3,100 guests aboard. Meantime, three passengers from the Costa Fascinosa died, eight were hurt and two others are still unaccounted for.
Those two companies have now scrapped scheduled plans to return to Tunisia and other companies have followed suit, including Hapag-Lloyd cruises, Star Clippers and AIDA, Cruisecritic.com reported.
Princess Cruises and P&O Cruises said they are both keeping an eye on the security situation in Tunisia before making a decision on revising itineraries, according to the website.
Norwegian Cruise lines had abandoned Tunisian ports of call, but that was related to an incident In March 2014 involving security officials stopping Israeli travellers from disembarking at the Port of La Goulette.
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Tunisia had already felt a bit of a tourism pinch because of regional instability.
“The global economic crisis, in addition to the security situation of Tunisia’s neighbors, have indirectly affected the country’s tourism industry and allowed the media to talk about Tunisia in an inaccurate way,” Zied Chargui, the director of the National Office of Tunisian Tourism, told Al-Arabiya on March 9 — just nine days before the attack.
Tunisia lost more than 2 million visitors following the start of the uprising, in Dec. 2010, that eventually led to the ousting of longtime president Zine El Abidini Ben Ali, compared to the previous year, according to the World Bank.
The numbers picked up in 2012, rising from 4.7 million in 2011 to 5.9 million, and were creeping back towards their pre-Arab Spring levels last year.
Chargui started a social media campaign earlier this year called “Je serai en Tunisie le…” (I will be in Tunisia on…) for future visitors to share when they will arrive in the country or if they are already travelling there.
“I wanted to show the reality in Tunisia. I wanted to show that tourists are indeed visiting Tunisia using a very simple concept,” he told the Dubai-based news agency.
In the wake of the Bardo attack, social media users began sharing images promising that they would come to Tunisia.
In unfortunately-timed comments, Tunisian tourism minister Selma Elluni Rekik touted the country as a safe destination for tourists less than 24 hours before the attack.
“There is no security problem in Tunisia. Everything is under control. She said there was “no risk of terrorism,” according to ANSAmed news network.
She referenced the violence in Libya, where ISIS has now established itself as well, saying her country’s borders were “absolutely impermeable to any infiltration attempt.
READ MORE: Video purports to show ISIS militants in Libya beheading 21 hostages
Across a border or not, Tunisia has an ISIS problem. Approximately 3,000 of the estimated 20,000 ISIS foreign fighters have come from Tunisia.
There are fears that this could be just the beginning of threats to Tunisia. In claiming responsibility for the attack, the purported ISIS message said the assault was “just the first drop of rain.”
If you want a gauge of how continued political strife or extremist violence can gut tourist industries, have a look down North Africa’s Mediterranean coast to Egypt.
READ MORE: Travelling to Egypt? You’ll soon need to get a visa before you go
Egypt arguably has some of the most alluring attractions of the region — the Pyramids of Giza – but its tourism industry has yet to fully recover from the violence that followed the Arab Spring.
Tourist numbers have slumped since 2010, with just 10 million tourists visiting Egypt last year compared to 14.7 million visitors four years earlier, Reuters reported.
With files from The Associated Press
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