Tunisia.com Blog

Tourism in 2009

2009-02-19T08:18:00.001-08:00

As I go though the Tunisian media this morning I come to some interesting stories, despite asking a number of times and Tunisia.com being one of the largest websites about Tunisia I am always overlooked and never invited for comment/press conferences about tourism maybe this is my arrogance or maybe the internet is just not yet of any importance in Tunisia.

The talk of the week this week is over the reduction in interest rates and the updates regarding the nations tourism performance for 2008 and looking forward to 2009. Interestingly the first to hit my screen was the news of "Presidential Measures" which is regarded as something of the utmost importance.

The measures announced are as follows,

a) Allocate an additional budget to undertake promotion;

b) Strengthen the international air transport to Tozeur and the domestic air transport to Tabarka and Tozeur;

c) Establish a program to upgrade hotels focus on intangibles, whilst carrying out the modernization of vocational training centers in coordination with all parties involved;

d) To complete the projects and golf courses in a timely manner;

e) Accelerating the use of historic and archaeological and promote large-scale international festivals;

f) Pay more interest in the aesthetics of tourist resorts and the cleanliness of their environment.

Now the above sound important however they also sound a little vague and i look forward to haveing some further details. Additionally (this is my opinion) part of the command economy approach to tourism is also part of the problem. Having now worked in Tunisia for going on a year and spending the majority of my time meeting and talking with tourism professionals as like it or not the most popular topic on Tunisia.com is Tourism I feel that just spending more money is not the key issue, nor is managing of issues that does not address the deeper issues that need to be addressed.

Later on on the same day I read a article about of the tourism ministries review of 2008 and ongoing view toward 2009 (not invited/informed again) where it was made apparent that indeed we will feel some of the impact of the global financial crisis and that we may indeed get less customers than 2009 which is logical. In this press conference the ministry also laid out some plans for investment and action including.

40 million dinars (20 million £) for promoting Tunisia.

upgrading of hotels

obligation on hoteliers to recruit on the basis of training

Promotion of Tunisia

Though the measures announced in this and the Presidential measures are positive I do feel that many tourism professionals shirk their obligations and for a better way of putting it wait for the government to help them. In fact one could almost argue that by helping in many cases government can cause Moral Hazard in this important sector which then enforces the issues that they are working so hard to resolve.

Here are my top issues that I would like to address during this downturn (as downturns are usually the times when the hard decisions are made).

Marketing

Now in Tunisia marketing is a funny term for some it just means advertising as it did years ago in the UK or to others it is like some form of Black art that is designed to take money from people in exchange for something you cannot see and touch. Now the marketing that I am describing is of the following definition which is the standard Marketing Mix approach no doubt in the textbooks of businessmen all around the world since the 1960's.

Product: The product aspects of marketing deal with the specifications of the actual goods or services, and how it relates to the end-user's needs and wants. The scope of a product generally includes supporting elements such as warranties, guarantees, and support.

I have travelled around Tunisia now for over 3 years stayed in many hotels and come and gone via the airport. I have hardly ever been asked for my opinions nor have many hotels asked me if I enjoyed my stay nor have I never been surveyed for my satisfaction at any stage before, during or after my stay in Tunisia. Also say that I plan to build a hotel/new service how can I get the relevant information, how can improve without this information how can we in Tunisia improve/plan without this information?

Additionally buy giving cheap loans and renovating hotels are we just rewarding those hotels that cannot renovate themselves from their own profits? I understand that 19 hotels closed last year but I also understand that I enquired about a small hotel for sale and was told over 5 million dinars! Which tells me that they are not yet that desperate for money! Maybe the problem is not the hotels themselves but the lack of things to do? maybe the money is better spent there/given to small companies.

Morocco apparently has a public tourism survey and this is something that we need and to make available before we even start planning.

As for the residential tourism product we need to overhaul the buying process and finance process before we even start down this road also are foreign buyers going to by a more expensive house in Tunisia than their home? This needs to be slick, quick and very safe or it will be dead before it even starts.

Pricing: This refers to the process of setting a price for a product, including discounts. The price need not be monetary; it can simply be what is exchanged for the product or services, e.g. time, energy, or attention.

I am always shocked when i here that in Tunisia the average tourist spends about 400$ a week but in Morocco over 800$. We have everything in Tunisia it is fantastic this is why I got my own personal money and invested it in Tunisia.com. I live in Bizerte and I spend over $250 a week so the majority of these folks must literally be staying in the Hotel all inclusive for the entire time!

This must be why we hear so much about renovating the hotels as logically nicer hotels = more expensive = more money but that is not always the case (especially when others do the same). There has been a significant trend for people wanting to go out and about and even have experience holidays where they go and do something outside of just sitting on the beach. We need to embrace this and get people out of the hotels and into the restaurants, festivals, tours etc etc If we persist on just annexing people in zone tourisques they are just going to stay there.

There are so many opportunities out there to increase the spend per tourist however we do have to be realistic example I go to golf courses and the prices are not really that cheap hence the place is empty. I went the hammamet marina and its empty as all the offices cost over 1000 dinars a month (190,000 to buy for 30m2) and only tourist tat shops can pay those rents!!!

Placement (or distribution): refers to how the product gets to the customer; for example, point-of-sale placement or retailing. This third P has also sometimes been called Place, referring to the channel by which a product or service is sold (e.g. online vs. retail), which geographic region or industry, to which segment (young adults, families, business people), etc. also referring to how the environment in which the product is sold in can affect sales.

Considering the above the last thing we need is that the promotion of Tunisia is mostly undertaken by travel agents and they have to live in a hard world and in that world Tunisia is traditionally the cheap all inclusive location which you see on the board outside. The sheer resting on laurels that tourism professionals do in Tunisia is awe inspiring in many cases with many renting their hotels to travel agents or simply telling us that they are not interested in promoting themselves as the travel agent will do all of that for them!! I do not blame the travel agencies at all they have to run their business but when it comes to planning are they going to push Tunisia as a high class destination and go against convention? Or even more dangerously no commissions will = no customers.

There is a yawning gap for self promotion in Tunisia and also collective promotion if this is addressed maybe the hotel associations groups of hotels or even the Tunisian tourism industry itself could develop additional channels to sell directly to the customer and be in control of the image. It is dangerous to be the "cheap" it you are not actually the cheapest go have a look in the window of the travel agents.

ttp://www.lastminute.com/site/travel/holidays/all-inclusive.html?intcmp=need_ideas_pod1_holidays_all_inc_title_link

Promotion: This includes advertising, sales promotion, publicity, and personal selling, branding and refers to the various methods of promoting the product, brand, or company.

This is a hot topic at the moment as Tunisia could do so much more but more costs money,ironically if you have the money now is a good time to publicize as costs are dropping in the key target markets. There are also new markets emerging the issue is that with the world in crisis will they actually spend the money and come to Tunisia, however if you believe that things will never get better you may as well shoot yourself :-) It has been shown that companies that invest in raising their brand profiles during recessions come out the other side stronger and this in my opinion what Tunisia should do starting with some market research and ending with a campaign that is bold professional and addresses head on some of the reservations some people have for visiting Tunisia.

Internet
Phew what a rant my final bit is about the internet. The internet was made for Tunisia as it allows the little guy to speak to the world and smart campaigns can get amazing results. It is true to say that someone with a great/savy online publicity campaign can out maneuver big bucks sometimes. It is then sad for me to say that Tunisia is almost like the land that the internet forgot especially for Tunisia's online image of itself.

Nearly all of the travel and tourism information is best found on the sites of individuals and if some people say Tunisia.com then I am happy but really a site like Tunisia.com run mostly out of love should not have more information than the official website. I also notice that different offices have their own websites which is ok but better that they at least have the same style and branding as not to dilute the message.

Casting my eye over google trends it looks like the search volume for Tunisia has seldom increased since 2004/05 which discounting large news and football matches means that online Tunisia is no more popular a search term for the last 4 years. From my perspective this means that Tunisia.com has been able to grab a larger share of the visitors but people have not been motivated to come online and search anew.

At a company level the divides between those that understand online are starting to be evident with folks starting to realize that you can get customers from a website especially when you call them back and or actually answer an email. This is most evident with the foreign (surprise) and younger management who like all over the world use the internet to communicate with their friends and once given the authority and trust in their training from senior management can hopefully make up some of the lost ground on the competition.

Summary

I hope that was not too negative at the end of the day Tunisia is a great place to go its just if we are going to invest more and shake things up lets go for it.

Lovely Weather

2009-02-13T02:54:00.001-08:00

Looking out my widow there is a miserable sight the site of a grey wet day in Bizerte. To be fair the weather has been bad all week and when this happens it feels like everyone is in slow motion as they are in nice weather but without the smile ;-). Bizerte is not really geared up for rain and as such the drains start to flood a bit and the roads become a bit slippery which doesn't seem to register with the taxi drivers who still hurtle around even though their wheels should have been changed some time ago. You could say its a little depressing and i sit here waiting for some sun but then again i could be in the Uk where apparently it has beens snowing a lot so maybe I should be grateful.

I have been on the phone a lot these days to the parents as myself and Hajer have another baby on the way and this time it looks like we will be having her in Bizerte as its not much fun traveling back and forth with Sara especially for Hajer who is now almost 6 months. From what I hear from the parents and from the news which i get on the internet its all doom and gloom back in the UK. Being the bearish sort I felt that we where heading for a recession and this was one of the reasons for coming to Tunisia however I never thought that it would be as bad as it seems with almost everyone impacted in some way. I m now thankful that Hajer started her business as shortly after the pound slid to almost 30% of its value against the tunisian dinar so I was thankful I took my own advice and made sure that I had an income in dinars as well as shifting out of some pounds.

Another thing I did not see was the government giving out taxpayers money to banks, I was always brought up to buy low and sell high which was caused by the feckless causing asset prices (normally businesses and houses) to go to high and thus meaning you could get good value (or even a bargain) when the pendulum swung the other way. However this time it looks like the government is giving out cheap money which if a) is successful it means years of unaffordable/un-rentable house prices and overpriced businesses which will go under as soon as rate go up or indeed a massive recession later when they cannot hold back the tide. So at the moment everyone I know with savings is running about trying to keep them whilst the others who borrowed are sitting waiting to be bailed out.

In terms of Tunisia I get asked by a lot of folks when i think the problems will here and given things are not quite as clear as the UK there is still a lot of nothing to see business as usual. In many ways the techniques used in developed countries to secure banks are already in force in tunisia i.e. the government has stakes in the banks and also have a couple of state run institutions so it can exert influence when it comes to lending and cutting lending. However Tunisia is still in the global economy and it would be naive to assume that growth can surge despite all the problems in the world especially when Tunisia exports a lot also.

My 2 Penny's worth

The Good

Tunisian banking system tightly monitored and controlled.

Tunisian government has already implemented some of the actions taken in other countries before the crisis.

Oil and gas prices have fallen which can help with trade deficit.

Tunisia never had a moroccan/dubai style development boom.

The majority of tourists coming from EU and neighboring countries where the dinar is still competitive.

Tunisia exports a lot of phosphates and food which are tipped to do well.

There is not as much consumer credit as in other countries.

The heat will get taken out of the property market.

Tunisia has a fixed currency.

Some expat tunisians will come back to Tunisia and start business.

The Bad

Foreign companies are cutting jobs around the world so maybe some business will restructure in Tunisia.

Tourism is usually a faller in hard times it will be amazing to get positive numbers in 2009.

The expat tunisian community may be poorer from the eu recession.

Even though the dinar is competitive with the Euro many other markets have seen their currencies decline against the dinar and some of these markets where growth markets last year like eastern Europe,russia etc. This makes Tunisia more expansive than last year for them.

We may see some regression in trade agreements in 2009 from other countries.

There is a property bubble in Tunisia but this is more of a asking price bubble/new build bubble what i mean is that the margins for builders are there and the sellers of property are sitting on large equity in most cases. There are a lot of loans especially in the commercial sector but since it is almost impossible to buy a house with less than 20% down the market has been driven on low volumes (ie one lot of land sells for 400 a meter then everyone wants 350). Tunisians are stubborn sellers and many are still asking for outlandish prices for land and houses but soon a few forced sellers will trend the price lower lead by developers who have to sell and this is why drops of 15% have already been reported in areas like Nasr which are new build centers. Now logically this is a good thing as high property costs drain money from the productive economy and this is a good thing so bad but good so it is important to be aware of the moral hazard of supporting greedy developers.

Tunisia has a lot of large projects in the pipeline and maybe some of these will be delayed which we hope not, but is a logical expectation.

No doubt there is lots more things and the odd unexpected event along the way but its going to be a stressful time for many however I am happy to be here than in the UK where the cost of just existing is 13,000£ per year. We will have to see what is going to happen and god willing we will avoid the worst.

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=1478

Back to Bizerte

2009-01-19T07:56:00.000-08:00

Hello all,

A long time away from the Blog again as I have been back home to the UK for a month or so.

Nothing much has changed in Tunisia which seems the opposite of my feelings when I returned to the UK where all the reasons I left have come to fruition. I had hoped that I would have enjoyed a feeling of schadefrude but unfortunately my feeling of being happy that overpriced houses are coming down and that I may be able to buy a business at a fair value are being replaced by a concern that debt was literally the only thing keeping the show on the road. It is literally all doom and gloom at the moment with my parents telling me that this is bizarre as normally the feckless go to the wall and the prudent get to acquire assets and business and start the rebuilding however this time everybody is being nailed at the same time it seems.

££££?

The £ has bounced up to to 2 dinars this week after what can only be described as a shocking decline. A pound used to get you 2.6 dinars but briefly it went down to 1.9 dinars which makes me thankful that I changed a chunk at 2.3. So if someone tells you Tunisian property went up 30% last year its actually the pound that went down!

So now added to the fact that Tunisian house prices are overinflated (and reportedly falling in Nasr already) I additionally have a lot less to spend so that is on hold now whilst I enjoy renting my nice house which is much more relaxing!

Tunisia.com

In terms of the site itself we have changed the lout a bit over the last few weeks to improve the advertising layout and added some features in the back-end to try and make things faster. We are also hoping to have a new forum layout later this week which should improve the experience further.

In terms of content we have started to add information to the recipe section (culture) and i have the travel guide for Nabeul up there with sousse medina and Monastir on their way for later in the month.

We also be looking at launching another forum (in french) for Bizerte.com which is parked at the moment. The reason for not developing the site so far was that we where waiting for the development for the marina to start but its Jan so better that we press ahead :-)

So steady as she goes and I with everyone a good start to 2009

Back from Sousse

2008-11-11T07:19:00.001-08:00

Hi all!

This week I am back in the office after spending last week in sousse. It was a good week where myself and Ramzi got a lot done including some new photos of the centre of sousse and the port to refresh the travel guides. We also managed to have a nice meeting with the folks of El Mouradi Hotels whom came across as a very dynamic and professional company and it is always nice to meet the people behind some of the hotels and logos that you see driving passed on the sides of buses and land-cruisers in many parts of Tunisia. El Mouradi and many other leading tourism companies from Tunisia are currently exhibiting in the WTM exhibition in the Excel Centre in London.

http://www.wtmlondon.com/

I wish all of the folks success during the event where many of them are sharing a stand with the Tunisian National tourism office (www.cometotunisia.co.uk) I have had the pleasure of meeting many of the companies in my few months in Tunisia and if anyone is visiting the show please feel free to say hello! Also say where is Tunisia.com!

Over this next week I am trying to sort out meetings with more hotel companies (it is the marketing season for them) and also trying to get down to the sales offices of Tunis Sports City and Sama Dubai as I am getting asked all the time for some articles/photos of these mega projects. Then I am thinking about going home for a couple of weeks to blighty to see the folks and show sara the motherland which is going to cost me a fortune especially as Hajer apparently needs another wife visa as we work outside the UK which is another 1200 dinars!!

Website wise I should be adding updated content for Nabuel, Soussse, PEK and Utique over the next week or so which I hope that you will enjoy and will make you want to go and visit :-). Following the design update of a couple of weeks ago we are also continuing to tighten up the design of the things to do sections and tweaking the little issues as we find them.

One of my biggest issues at the moment is populating the events section which I have high hopes for but it is difficult to get specific information about events in a suitable time frame, even in the newspapers here it will say massive event on monday next week (too late for foreign visitors) Tunis (huge city) and will play host to x and y (no schedule). Such bad marketing and PR is the bane of many events in Tunisia for example excellent products such as the Bizerte festival where never confirmed to me and I only got heed when a speaker truck drove passed telling me that it was to start tomorrow. I would also be a rich man if I got a dinar for every-time I drove passed a poster in hammamet which gave details of a concert that I would have liked to go to but was last week. I am a firm believer that adding value for tourists via the provision of festivals and events is a key differentiator from other destinations but we need to allow those visitors to plan to come for another example http://www.tabarkajazz.com has 2007 on it! and believe me this is an excellent event!

end of moan

All things considered a good week thanks be to god! Most importantly my little Sara is coming along nicely.

She is now 1.4 years old and runs about and is now starting to speak,well make word sounding noises. I try to speak english to her all the time and at the moment she has the following Vocab.

Tunisian Arabic (spelt phonetically),

Speaks

Shoof (show)

Haka (look)

Hub Hub (woof woof)

Hee Jar (Hajer=MUM)

Hazeezhi (aziz = dad and grandfather)

Aye (slang yes)

Baba (which I thought was me but it turns out is almost everything)

Understands all of the above +

Atini (give)

im shee (get going)

Lea (no)

Yerkut (stop moving)

Coul (eat)

Zeaza (titties/boobies) for culinary reasons

Hajer gives up chasing Sara!

.......................................

English

Speaks

No!

Dad Dad Dad

Daddie

Mum Mum

Cat

Understands above +

Thank you

you look lovely

Go drive the car (takes keys and runs to car, puts key in ignition= dangerous)

Karen (my mum)

Sit

I am gonna get you (runs away)

Teletubbies

Hey my name is Iggle Piggle (in the night garden is addictive as crack for under 5s)

So far the only issue I have with Sara is (as warned by my mother) is that having a baby is experiencing stress like you have never felt before and you sit there just looking at them, someone that needs you for everything. She is growing so fast that I just cannot believe that I am her dad and that it was only July 30th last year I had no daughter at all!

So Busy

2008-10-30T04:41:00.001-07:00

Hi All,

So busy at the moment as it comes to the end of our Tunisian offices first year in operation.

We have been working over the last few weeks to get the new design completed along with the new Tunisieimmo.com website which we hope will be popular.

The new design though not dramatically different should be faster more simple to navigate and also has the useful new feature of an event calendar which (if I can get the "marketing" managers to tell me) will have the latest events happening in Tunisia.

On the customer front we have been meeting people in Hammamet October and will be heading down to Sousse next week to meet people down there.

Aside from these things no complaints the weather is getting a little colder now and i should be going back to the UK to se the folks. I envisaged coming back every six months but to be honest at the moment I am enjoying life so much why bother! I remember the last time that I returned to the UK from Tunisia and drove back to Norwich from Gatwick 40 quid for diesel for the Mini and then I went to a coffee machine that wanted to charge me nearly £3 for a coffee yes a machine!!!! I guess also now that its been over 10 months since i returned these prices are even higher!

Ramadan

2008-09-01T01:37:00.000-07:00

Tunisias First Gold for 40 Years!

2008-08-18T05:35:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to Oussama Mellouli who dug in when it counted to beat the legendary Grant Hackett over the 1500 meters swim in the games.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ajacied/2770445601/sizes/o/

In what is a tough event Oussama beat the odds and delivered the first gold for over 40 years!

Everyone on the Tunisia.com staff and forum wish Oussama all the best and thank him for his hard work. We also look forward to his return which I am sure will be treated as the return of a hero!

To Rent or to Buy/Build

2008-07-25T10:56:00.000-07:00

One of the most popular discussions on the forum at the moment and in my house also is the subject of house buying.

http://forum.tunisia.com/tunisian-property-forum/

This discussion has also shown up some of the differences between the thought processes of my family and my wife's family.

I come from Norwich a small city in the East of the UK which to be fair is a very nice safe comfortable city i love it there and aside from being a little bit of a career backwater its not a bad place to live.

I bought a house there for about 140,000 pounds and sold it last year for over 200,000 having owned the house for little over a year. I am not one to say look at me what a lot of money I made actually I feel the opposite I did not want to sell the house but the prices became so stupid i thought better to get rid as i remember as a child my parents loosing money on a house in the last downturn. I also hate the average guy not being able to buy the average house.

Having sold I assumed that I would be able to get a nice priced house here in Tunisia given the strong pound and to put it bluntly you earn a hell of a lot more working in the UK. However surprisingly i have found that houses in the nice areas even in Bizerte (tunis is x2 expensive) are crazier when you compare income levels. I have also come to the conclusion Tunisians are even more addicted to property than folks from the UK.

My wife is pathologically pressuring to buy a house for the following reasons

she wants a house no matter what the cost (to me :-))

houses never go down in Tunisia, never apparently

They will become even more expensive.

I am not a real man unless I buy an expensive house because successful people never rent.

So naturally I have given it some thought but I have the following issues.

A nice house of a suitable standard in a suitable area 300-350,000 dinars (152,000+ GBP)

If i wanted to rent the house (say relocation) I would get about 500-800 dinars per month (304 GBP)

This means to buy my wifes excellent investment would mean that I would enjoy a return of 3% half of what i currently get on the money in the bank.

Another popular way of getting a cheaper house in Tunisia is self build but this has the following issues.

Planning permission

Getting good builders (god knows there are lots of poor workmen in Tunisia if they come at all)

Other monstrous houses cropping up around you.

This on paper however looks like the most business savy method of home ownership as long as you get a good price for the land which at the moment is the problem as land in bizerte corniche is now going for 250-400 dinars a meter.

1000m for a nice sized house = 300,000 dinars @300pm 500m (min for nice house) 150,000 dinars or 65,000GBP

70-100,000 dinars for a house to be built (30-40,000 GBP)

So if you build yourself your looking at a saving of about 50,000 dinars but with all the extra hassle and a house that once rented will give you about 4-5% return.

I suppose it boils down to if you feel prices will go up or come down in Tunisia which I cannot see in dinars but Coyote in the forum pointed out something very important that the dinar devalues 5% each year and if you look at contracts it seems that level of inflation is built into the system. This means that if you buy your house for 100,000 dinars it will need to go up in price each year by 5% just to retain the same value as the hard currency that you bought it with potentially.

I also personally am concerned with how people buy these houses the exact same feelings i had when the market went down in the UK but since this has never happened in Tunisia before i think its an argument brewing with the other half.

At the moment I look at plots of terrain and hope to get a bargain for cash if not I refuse to be pressured as I will simply use the interest on 50k of my savings to rent a 350,000 dinar house and the interest on the rest to kick back and relax and unfortunately I cannot find a more compelling solution that makes any financial sense at all!

If you love ranting about house prices either bull or bear please come to the forum and share your point of view

Forum property discussion

Bringing a car into Tunisia

2008-07-15T05:15:00.000-07:00

Hi Just an update on bringing a car from the UK/Europe as I am now taking my new car back hopefully I can already the experienced a great loss of time on this subject not to mention money.

This was a very sorry escapade and is the only bad experience I have had trying to work in Tunisia as an investor.

With all things inport speak to the Douane first and ignore other agencies as you will be dealing with them and they say yes or no.

Tell them what you plan to do and get them to agree before you bring the car as rules change and training/knowledge is not good even of their own processes.

If you find some of this incorrect please feel free to offer what you know :-)

Bringing a car in as an individual:

If you are an expat Tunisian and you have been away from Tunisia for over 2 years and under a certain amount of time you can have.

RS: a plate which allows you to have a car in Tunisia and allows you to sell the car to another rs person.

FCR: Import a car and pay tax on it in the range of 18% percent you are allowed one of these. Car will have Tunisian plates.

Somtimes you will get people offering to sell this (illegal) and this is not advised as they will need to import the car in their name and the car will be theirs for its life until sold to another FCR

Also there are some rues in place for foreign key workers for companies again this to me seemed a closed shop so unless you big Tunisian company gets this for you do not assume you will get it.

Bringing in a Car as a foreign investor

If you read the FIPA do***entation as I did ask them and speak to the customs. You will be told that bringing your car is easy allowing you the pleasure of creating jobs in Tunisia. Alas it is not really easy and you need to have.

1. A commercial enterprise: Not a internet company or service company. This means somthing easy for the customs to understand like a factory etc.

2. Approval from the API: The promotion of industry government body forms to be filled in etc.

3. Approval from the Douane: Yes approval again and they can also say no if they like.

So fo me I made the following mistakes I am not offshore nor am I a factory so in their eyes the largest tourism website about tunisia with over 50,000 potential customers a month for Tunisia is less worthly than a factory and thus I have had zero help at all from anyone aside from Expat Solutions who I pay.

My advice is either if your husband is an expat then no problem FCR but if an investor pay somone to do the papers before you come in the car and have a Tunisian car if at all possible as the upside of this that Tunisian cars at the moment deprecieate much more slowly than imported cars (tunisian number-plate).

Sorry for a bit of a rant but I hope my expensive mistakes help others.

I love Tunisia but you shouldn't have to work 6 months to ge a no and the time i have spend/wasted doing this is would have resulted in a lot more work being done. I am not the only one and this issue happens to lots of folks so be warned!

My New little Friend

2008-07-15T04:45:00.000-07:00

Funny Tunisia living here has been so easy I forget that I am not home sometimes, but from time to time you get little things that remind you your not in Norwich anymore.

Today in my office I have a new friend to protect me from the flies.

He/she is a little Menemerus silver (i think correct me if I am wrong) which is a little jumping spider.

What makes this one special is that for some reason he/she seems to love me and keep jumping all over my desk.

Even stranger is that he/she disappears when I get the camera but I will try and get a photo once get a chance.

Below is a image from the net which looks like the same species.

http://opencage.info/pics/files/200_8295.jpg

I do not like spiders but I like them more than flying cockroaches (I had one land on my face once whilst on the phone and screamed like a little girl) but this little one is very different as it is furry squat and positively friendly/brave.

Naturally after my interaction I Wikipedia'd my new pet and discovered that they can jump 50 times the length of their body using a system of internal hydraulics.

Netsurf Corniche

2008-07-14T06:02:00.000-07:00

Apologies for being AWOL for a couple of days as I have had to help Hajer launch her new business which is an internet training centre in the Corniche in Bizerte.

You may even see me helping out over the ext few evenings as the staff get settled in.

Facilities are a little thin on the ground in the Corniche of Bizerte so we have installed a suite of 9 PCs, printing an some games systems so that kids have something to do after day and for a cheap price.

If your in bizerte please feel free to pop by and check your email/have a chat.

Tunisia.com wise I have been playing with the forum and changing hosts to make is a lots faster, we also have a new chat platform coming which i hope will prove popular with everyone as we now seem to be getting more than 50 people online on a regular basis.

Regards,

Kris

Eating at Layalina Resturant Hammamet

2008-07-03T05:28:00.000-07:00

On saturday myself and hajer went to Hammamet and had a meal in the Layalina restaurant which is part of the Oasis nightclub which is between Hammamet and Yasmine Hammamet.

Upon entering the restaurant you get the feeling that it could be a large city given the very stylish decor. This plus the fact it is part of a nightclub makes you feel that is going to be expensive.

Ironically unlike many places in Hammamet (where you can pay 10 dinars + for a simple pizza) prices are not really that bad with the most expensive dish 22 dinars and most dishes coming in at about 13 dinars average.

Sitting down in the restaurant is a intimate experience as there are only 80 or so covers in the inside though outside there is a large terrace which no doubt will be popular in the peak season which is almost upon us.

Service was thankfully as good as the decor with friendly staff who always filled glasses and where generally attentive. Hajer had the salmon starter followed by steak, myself I had chicken and we both finished with the chocolate fondant as I was reticent to take one for the team and have something else as my wife has been known to keep her options open and eat all of the best dish.

All of the dishes where excellent so in summary if you are looking for a stylish restaurant with good service at a reasonable price try Layalina which is a very professional and stylish place to eat Recommended.

Karim and Bizerte Team kick butt!

2008-06-25T03:50:00.000-07:00

Tunisian Enduro championship; (From 27 January to 29 June 2008)

(INDIVIDUAL MOTORCYCLE- INDIVIDUAL QUAD)

Location : (motorcycle and quad clubs of : Sousse-qasr Guilaine-Tunis-Bizerte-la Marsa)

The individual motorcycle competition started in Sousse 27 January 2008: Bernard Vincent from la Marsa won at that race with 20 points and the second was Imbert Gerome from Sousse with 17 points.

Then in Qsar guilane on 23 February took place the second round and Hizem Samir from Sousse was the first in the arrival and got 20 points. But in Tunis on 22 nd March 2008 Sahnoun Sofiane from la Marsa won the race and got 37 points. After that the competition was held in Bizerte and Nouira adel who is also from la Marsa was the first at the arrival .But Bizerte got the first place in ranking because Jmili Hassen participated in all rounds and got the second and third place.

Moreover, in individual quad race Karim Dilou got the first position with 114 points along with the quad championship as he was the first in Ksar Guilaine race as well as in Bizerte one.

In the other hand, la Marsa got the first position after classifying its motorcycle club as the first one in Tunisia with 325 points.

Whereas Bizerte got the same position by classifying its quad club the first in Tunisia with 319 points.

In this regard, the general Enduro ranking for motorcycle and quad is:

1- Bizerte with 408

2- Marsa with 325

3- Sousse with 207

Back from Tabarka

2008-06-20T04:58:00.000-07:00

Hi All,

I am back in the office after a few days in Tabarka meeting hotels and most importantly taking some new photos for my travel guide.

Myself Ramzi and My father in law had a wonderful drive from Bizerte to Tabarka which I must say was a wonder in itself with some breathtaking scenery that would befit any epic movie.

Leaving Bizerte we passed the Lake and the miles of farms into the more hilly west of Tunisia driving via the flooded areas near Sejenane where you could see the bridges and tops of the villages that where flooded for a dam.

The vistas kept coming and the weather was fantastic as we drove past farms and fields of fruit with the young children selling via stalls by the roadside. You have to be a bit careful in these parts as you do get the odd cow and sheep wander into the road however i have know for this to happen in the centre of Bizerte so you should always expect the unexpected!

We drove through the town of Sedjenane which is famous for its honey and the nesting cranes which have been provided sites in the old buildings and at the top of the pylons etc.

Pressing on we arrived at the town of Nafzah which had a busy Wednesday market which seemed to run the length of this small town. This was very popular and a great chance to get your hands on some local produce and of the time of writing this Melons where the product of the season with prices dropping from 350>200 milimes per KG a bargain as they are lovely!

We pressed on and duly arrived in tabarka passing the allied war graveyard a journey which had taken us just under three hours.

We headed for our hotel which was the Abou Nawas Montazah 3 star in the z Touristique and checked in for night. We then headed into Tabarka for the travel guide photos and popped in to see the governor of tourism for the region and grab a bite to eat in the lovely port.

Tabarka is lovely and that cannot be disputed what a beautiful place to spend some time. Walking around and taking photos was a pleasure and easy to do given the quiet streets and compact layout of the town. The weather helped also making everything seem to idillic and judging by the laid back nature of the locals life is as such here.

Tabarka is dominated by its bay and by the Genoise castle which proudly rests on a hill in the centre of it. For further information/photos please visit the updated Tabarka guide in the travel section of Tunisia.com.

Don Piccio Resturant Hammamet

2008-06-16T05:08:00.000-07:00

When we where at the Meditour exhibition at the excellent Medina complex on the final day we decided to go for a meal together to sign off and given that we where in Yasmine we chose a restaurant there.

Given that this was during a quiet period of the year we looked for something small and comfortable/child friendly for me, Hajer, Ramzi, Samar (my niece) and Sara. Located opposite the Mehari hotel on the front line of Yasmine Hammamet the Don Piccio restaurant faces the beach in an excellent position and I would think that during the day you could enjoy a great view as the restaurant is on the first floor facing the beach.

As for the restaurant itself it is light comfortable and has booth seating which I like as it allows me to have Sarah sitting next to me so she can have some freedom. The staff where friendly and efficient and did not mind that we had Sara and Samar with us causing a racket and jumping about (to be fair the restaurant was quiet).

As for the Menu the selection was Italian dishes many of which seemed authentic and the prices reflected this and the restaurants location with Pizzas starting at 10 Dinars + and other dishes at 10-20 dinars. Also note that they have pork in this restaurant which is either a good thing or if your like us something that limits your choice however I am sure that it tastes better than turkey alternatives and also reflects the authentic feel of the menu.

As I am getting a bit fat I asked for a salad (not on the menu) for 13 dinars and Hajer went for the Margarita PIzza being the culinary adventurer that she is. Both came in good time and the salad especially was impressive (as it should be for 13 dinars) and I can safely say it was the best salad i have had in Tunisia so far!

Summary

A nice restaurant in a good position it is a simple affair inside and comfortable. Excellent salad and good service = good night for those who came I would come again however it is not the cheapest but considering the position and location within Yasmine Hammamet it is understandable.

Recommended

Changing servers

2008-06-09T04:05:00.000-07:00

Hi All,

Changing servers again this week so head down and little time for anything nice which is a shame as the weather is lovely outside as usual :-)

Not missing the UK much as I thinking about my fishing trip on Wednesday ;-) apparently i am going to go to an island off the coast of bizerte where I will be hunting for tuna and other large game fish YEY! If I survive I will post the photos and some video though I do not have high expectations as the last time i went fishing I caught a gudgeon and i was about 12 so I am taking a jump into the big league.

We are also heading to Tabarka Next week to update the travel guide there so I will bring you some interesting photos and things to do from there.

Speak soon and keep safe!

KARIM DILOU - Tunisian Hero Finishes 2nd in Sardinia

2008-05-31T09:37:00.000-07:00

Karim is representing Tunisia in the world Quad Bike championships and finished a excellent second behind the home favorite in Sardinia. This leaves him in an excellent position heading into the later races as he sets his sights on the world crown.

Speaking to Tunisia.com

There are basically three different types of Rally-Raids. There are those that take place in wide open spaces, such as Dakar, Tunisia, Egypt and Brazil. The Rally type Baja, as the Rally of Central Europe (Hungary and Romania). And finally there are the Rally type "enduro", as the Rally of Sardinia. Its features are that it is only open to motorcycles and quads, it is more technical, with lots of navigation and an average speed relatively low.

Sardinia is an island incredibly beautiful. A pervasive greenery and breathtaking scenery. Its inhabitants are very open and warm.

The Rally of Sardinia, 2008 edition and the first round of the World Cup of Quads has also been discreet, that controversy.

Named "Rally-raid"! but it looks more like a giant enduro raod-book.

Of the 1230km travelled the variety of tracks was amazing, the course was very technical, rocky, in the undergrowth, and with many changes of direction. Caratérisée this year by many passages TRIAL between large rocks on mountains that exceed the 1000 metres altitude as well as raids on mountain giant stone wheel with grandess marches circles! In my opinion, this was not really adapted to quads!

The navigation was very different from what we know… It was really complicated and it is easy to find yourself on a track upside down!

The Italians are on their land and who are used to seek small trails hidden in the scrubland have dominated the race Quad.

Note that this is the first Tunisian participation in the Rally of Sardinia and elsewhere is also the first in a rally in europe.

Standings after 1st Official Channel of the World Cup:

1 - Andrea Solinas - Italy (Honda 450cc)

2 - Karim Dilou - Tunisia (Yamaha 700cc Raptor)

3 - Ivan Reedtz Thott - Denmark (Can-Am Bombardier 800cc)

Calendar:

2nd Channel: Brazil from 18 to 26 June 2008

3rd Channel: Egypt from 04 to 11 October 2008

4th Channel: Dubai from 26 to 31 October 2008

My Objective: Egypt and Dubai represent the ideal for conditions for me and my Quad. My attendance is not for fun, I aim to win and climb the steps of the podium and thus earn maximum points for the World Cup!

Tunisia.com is proud to be associated with Karim as he is a world class performer and flying the flag around the world!

Paperwork :-)

2008-05-28T03:47:00.000-07:00

I had some great news yesterday as I picked up my work permit and my visa to stay and work in Tunisia.

Some of you may have noticed that I have been quiet on this subject and that of my new car over the last few weeks and this has been for a reason as i have found it impossible to do them myself.

There is provision in Tunis for foreigners to get things done in a simple manner however this is simple from a Tunisian perspective and not from a everything can be done online 24/7 in 12 languages perspective of a UK citizen. Also I live and work in Bizerte which means as lovely as the facilities are in Tunis I find it very difficult to go there at the drop of the hat and indeed over the last few months I have spend 100's of dinars going back and forth etc etc lucky for me i have no hair to pull out.

I was about to go nuts and I was recommended a company called expat solutions based in Tunis who do a lot of work for french investors in Tunisia and folks generally who have not the time not the inclination to sit in queues all day and want to get things done right.

After a meeting with Rashida the managing director it came to light that i had done a number of things wrong.

a) Working in Tunisia

I cannot work for the wife and i needed to be the managing director of Tunisia.com not just a director as it is a small company.

b) Staying in Tunisia

As I have shares in a company I had to go down the route of a not the simple husband/long holiday etc route

c) My car in Tunisia on RS plates

Both of the above need to be addressed before you can proceed. which in hindsight is logical as you need a work permit and permission to stay and they Tunisia will allow you a car to work with.

This meant a lot of paperwork and conversations but thankfully Rashida spoke great english and knew her stuff inside out which meant it was a case of providing our documents and she did the rest. After a couple of weeks i am now in possession of my documents and I am so happy in-fact i have asked Rashida to put together some information for the Business section as I am sure most folks wanting to do something in Tunisia especially those from the UK will need the services her company provides.

I recommend Expat Solutions and Rashida has told me that she can resolve many issues and it is best that people give her a call/email first so that they do not make a pigs ear of things trying to do it themselves like I did.

As for my car now i have the other documentation it has to go to the API for approval and then to the customs and i wait to see if they say yes or no and this should take 2-3 weeks though i have the car on a extension plates (over 3 months) which means I can now use it until August.

To extend a car

Insurance (expensive) I got this from Comar in bizerte (another nice company I will recommend later)

Documents for the car and from the douane on entry.

My details

You got to the douane in Tunis

then to the office fiscal in roue de england (ironically)

pay your vignette (car tax)

return to the douane (yey)

they give you documents

go get a number (we paid 15 dinars for this)

good to go

Lots of back and forth so give yourself a day for this!

If you have paperwork issues or want to start a business/bring a car/renting/buying a house etc i am sure Rashia will be please to help and also mention Tunisia.com recommended you so she gives you a good price ;-)

http://www.expat-solution.com/relocation-tunisie.html (in french but they speak english)

6, Rue Imam Rassaa, 3eme étage 1002 Tunis

Tel: + 216 71 843 690

Fax: + 216 71 843293

Email : contact@expat-solution.com

Regards,

Kris

Back from Meditor

2008-05-27T03:44:00.000-07:00

We finished our second major exhibition in a month at the weekend and this time it was the Meditour exhibition in Yasmine Hammamet which was located in the excellent Medina complex.

The exhibition was a conference for tourism in the Med and also was an opportunity for Tunisia to host VIPs from around the region and show them what we have to offer.

We had a smaller stand this time near the entrance of the exhibition and we got to meet various vips including ministers and also the Director of the Mallorcan chamber of commerce who ironically new my granddad who lives there what a small world!

Me shaking hands with the Minister with AK (Hajers father) and Ramzi.

The minister thanked us for making the website and said how much he liked it which was nice, however i reminded him how much more we we have to do to get it looking as it should.

The conference itself was interesting with the subject being what was happing to tourism in the med with some key points.

Economic problems in Europe will have an effect.

Tourism is changing with people wanting to build their own holidays and also explore more.

Customers want to have more relaxation in the form of beauty treatments etc

Customers want more options such as fishing hiking etc

Customers increasingly like the flexibility of renting apartments over hotels

Tunisia has massive incoming investment from the gulf

I was happy as i left as i thought tunisia.com is key to some of those points as we try and provide a platform via our directories and travel guides to try and provide information to visitors in excess of what they would find in other places and with this information in mind we will work harder still to make the site better.

Hotel Zodiac

For the three days we where at the exhibition we stayed at the four star hotel zodiac in Hammamet yasmine as the gave us a good deal for the stay and also it is very close to the Medina complex.

The Zodiac is a small hotel in a secondary position behind the beach hotels and small still than the Yasmine Marina Palace hotel which I have previously stayed at.

The hotel is unassuming from the front and in among the massive hotels of the area you could be forgiven for missing it.

I have said before that I love small hotels and thankfully the zodiac provided us with the perfect base for the exhibition when you enter the hotel you are met with a warm welcome and this extends to the animation team who even though noticed we where no business (and thus no fun) all said hello in fact all staff where friendly and concerned that we where having a good time which is very important and the easiest thing in the world.

We went for Half board and as we arrived in the evening we went right to the restaurant which is and nice relaxed with a bright and clean dinging room. The food was good without being excellent with the exception of the fish which everyone (aside from fish hater me) loved.

We then walked through the halls to the room which where all very clean and spacious though some elements where a little tiered such as old rugs etc which though very clean where showing a bit of age.

The rooms also where very clean and of a good size with a nice view of the pool and balcony however again showing age a little bit but nice at the price.

The pool areas of the hotel where well maintained and provided a good size indoor and outdoor poll and a small pool in which Sara had her first swim ever!

Summary

Nice small hotel in hammamet

Good value given we negotiated 40TD pppn HB

Very clean and airy

Very nice staff and other customers seemed to enjoy the activities

If you get a good deal I recommend the Zodiac as a nice simple hotel walking distance from everything in central Yasmine. It does the simple things well and provides a friendly atmosphere for your stay.

MIT

2008-05-26T05:57:00.000-07:00

We are every so happy having completed the first day of MIT exhibition in Tunis.

We debuted our new stand new website and ourselves to our potential advertisers at this which is the largest annual tourism show in Tunisia.

We where fortunate to have the time to speak to the director of the show Afif Kchouk who is a very nice man who told us of his ambitions to make the show next year even bigger and better moving it from its current location to the even larger exhibition centre in Kram which will make the show the premier tourism event in Africa.

We arrived on the Wednesday before the show to get started and in true fashion we where putting the finishing touches to the stand literally 5 minutes before the Minister of tourism arrived for his tour of the show. Thankfully all was up in time and we had avery busy show with folks from all over Tunisia coming to see us and tell us about their businesses and also people coming to ask us questions about the website and myself and Hajer. What shocked me was how new we where to everyone and that not many people inside of Tunisia had heard of us which thankfully the MIT show was the first step to addressing this issue.

After 3 busy days the show came to a close yesterday and we headed home to Bizerte very happy not only had we met lots of exciting contacts we had raised the profile of the website, met the minister of tourism (photo to come soon) and Ramzi was on television discussing the website which made his mum so happy.

I will try and get video and photos of all the bits so you can see them and will add them to this post as an when I get them.

I was also fortunate enough to meet up with Essem from the forum who came with her other half to see us at our stand which made me very happy as i love the chance to thank forum members face to face.

I also had the chance to thank Essem for what must be one of the nicest things done by a forum member when she travelled to Tabarka to photograph the grave of another forum members grandfather who lost his life during the second world war in Tunisia. Things like this make me so happy and make it all worth while, Essem and her other half are starting a property consultancy www.aplaceintunisia.com an endeavor in which I wish them all the success in the world.

Kris

Havana Resturant Ennasser II

2008-05-16T10:52:00.000-07:00

Myself and Hajer Managed to get Yosra to look after Sara for a few hours and for the first time in ages we had a meal together on our own which felt so strange we spent almost the entire time calling to see if Sara was ok.

We decided to try out the restaurant near Yosra's apartment which is the Havana restaurant in the new area of enasser in Tunis. The restaurant was quiet as we where eating early and looked promising as it is clearly new and has a modern cum african style to it with the now obligatory plasma screen tv's around the walls to reassure us that someone spent some money decorating.

We where greeted with a smile and sat down as we where both starving especially myself as i have a hankering for creole/Caribbean food. Our first disappointment was the menu which seemed devoid of actual Cuban food and mostly consisted of french dishes which though nice sounding did not match what we anticipated.

We ordered the calamari and mussels for starter (circa 8 dinars each) and then the steak (16 dinars) and large prawns with mozzarella (24 dinars). Once we got into it the food was nice though not fantastically so considering the price which was not exactly expensive but not cheap either.

If your looking for a nice relaxing meal then this is not a bad place but hold in mind the Havana is only in the name not in the food.

Kris

Pass the Parcel

2008-05-05T10:45:00.000-07:00

I have just got back to the office so frustrated.

It is not often I get miffed but then I am getting a reputation in Bizerte as the English moaner (even though by UK standards I am patient). Today I had a wonderful example of how Tunisia can improve as a business destination which I hope will happen soon.

I posted myself a box from the UK which had a push-chair, modem, storage and a lens for my camera.

I put from Kristen Heavens to Kristen Heavens and the address as my office address as sitting in queues means that I am in my office till late most days (moan moan).

Ok so happily I go to the post office to get my parcel (I have never had an international one come the office lol even though I pay fed-ex courier). The lady tells me that as its a company I have to go to customs head office I say no as it is personal things and if this was the case then why did you waste my time and send me a note telling me to come here an alien concept in Tunisia is the value of peoples time it seems. The lady in the office said that maybe the manager could help me so to come back in 30 minutes. I asked for a definite time she will be back "no" and could I book a time as I am a busy person "no" lol so I guess if i want my push-chair I better come back.

Ok so i came back to the office that thanks be to god is round the corner and then returned half an hour later to complain to the post office manager where i was told again that I would have to go to the douane office arrrg!

So I go with my assistant (essential) to the customs and I go from person to person and after seeing 7 people and spending 40 minutes I am told that I will need to write a letter and wait for the Director of Bizerte customs to come back and stamp it and guess what come back in two days which is really good as I get paid to sit in queues lol

Lesson learned

Do not commit the crime of having personal parcels delivered to you work address and god help you if you do not live near the customs office.

----end of moan---

Show Must Go On

2008-05-05T03:05:00.000-07:00

Hi All,

We finally got there and got the new website design up no doubt we will have to carry on changing things for a while as you can test and test but there are always the odd thing that comes up when you launch a new design.

I hope that you like it which so far most people say they do especially the menu which is a lot easier to use than they old one and it stays in the section you are in also so no more having to go up and down to get the menu!

The serious business starts now of updating the information and we have created a new section called "things to do" which is where we place the directories of hotels etc which replaces the old hotels directory. I hope that the MIT show this week will give us a head start updating this information as many operators will be there.

Speaking of the show we have been running about trying to get the stand ready which has been hindered by me being sick for the latter part of last week which was a real pain :-( the good news is I was sorted out right away by the local pharmacist who expertly understood my hand gestures and hooked me up with the requisite remedy that had me out of the toilet and on the road to recovery.

Car:

As you may remember I brought a car with me when i came over 2 months ago and guess what it still is not on Tunisian number plates. I finally gave up in Bizerte and headed to Tunis to sort out this and other papers for the company and I found the answer to everything (why I did not do this in the beginning). It seems to me that as a foreign investor it pays not to be clever and try and sort everything out locally your are better to go to the API in Tunis as boy it makes a difference as they have seen it all and speak English making the whole process a lot more understandable. I now have to have a load of paperwork redone which is a pain but it looks like i will be able to get to the bottom of my paperwork nightmares as i am allergic to papers especially in french/arabic.

Once this is completed I will add a guide to the site to sorting out car in Tunisia!

Property:

I am still no nearer buying or renting a place since I got here maybe I am just lazy and my mother in law is looking after me too much but i also have to have a little bit of a moan about the Bizerte rental market which to me seems very expensive and not really the standard it should be. I have looked at a few houses now and the rents are as much as Tunis especially when I am there as my face increases the price lol I have now been consigned to the car until the price has been stated. Another factor which is fair enough is that rents to nuts during the summer period and a house that is 400 goes to 700 during the summer months which though good for bizerte is a pain for us international businessmen (funny saying that) looking for a good quality rental for a reasonable price. Another couple of bug bears I have with the Bizerte real estate market are that people think of nothing of fibbing about the location of a property and will do everything to avoid telling you to location so you can drive passed (as you can usually say yey or nay from a drive by) what is described as corniche can be miles away. My personal fave which makes me go arrg is when I go to see a house and it is not finished ie no paint etc and the price is still high (500 d/m +) I mean do you want me to finish your house for you lol!

As you may now (I bang on about it all the time) I am a bear on UK property and sold up on exiting the UK feeling that things have to come down though not gloating as yet it seems that I was right and property is on the way down. I am now annoying my wife (who wants to buy whatever the cost) here as i get the same feeling about prices in Bizerte Corniche as I cannot justify buying here either lol I mean even at a nutty 1500 (681 GBP) dinars a month the house would still cost you 400,000 (181,000 GBP) dinars to buy which is well under 5% return (not including taxes etc) which when your getting over 6% in a savings account makes you feel like just sitting pretty or investing in a business which is what I am doing. I am sure this annoying the wife as I promised her a house and she cannot understand having money but not diving in there as the Tunisian tradition seems to be get a house first and then worry about money later but in my family we are tight fisted and pride ourselves on always being pragmatic (or loosing as little as possible LOL).

I can even see our next argument as we reached a semi compromise we would by a plot of land suitable for a nice house 1000m2 or so possibly in La Grotte which is the cove next to the corniche which is beautiful but undeveloped not permission, no utilities etc real green field.

View Larger Map

The idea is to buy here and forget about it for a few years and then build when Bizerte expands out here but get this the price for this opportunity 250 dinars per m2 lol which means 250,000 (113,000 GBP) before you start your house LOL! At this rate I will have a UK house again sooner!

See US at MIT stand 98! 8-10 May 2008

2008-04-22T03:00:00.000-07:00

Hi All,

I am pleased to confirm that Tunisia.com has confirmed attendance at the 14th Edition of the MIT exhibition in Charguia in Tunis.

The exhibition is enjoying its 14th edition and is an excellent window to the Mediterranean tourism market featuring hundreds of exhibitors and features a wide spectrum of tourism businesses including Hotels, restaurants, car rental, tour operators and air sea and land transporters.

The exhibition itself has a history of being an excellent event with over 20,000 people coming to the last edition its growth has been on such a scale that it will be moving to the larger Kram exhibition centre next year for the 15th edition.

We are located at stand number 98 and we hope to see you there! the exhibition is open to the public and i am sure that you will have a great time seeing what the Tunisian and Med tourism has to offer!

http://www.mit-med.eu

12, rue Ibn Rachik- 1002 - Tunis

Tél. : + 216 71 893 215 - Fax : + 216 71 784 013

Email : tourisme.infomit @ gnet.tn

Congratulations Mohammed!

2008-04-21T10:05:00.000-07:00

I hope you had a good week last week! My week was mostly taken up with the celebrations of my brother in law Mohammed's wedding.

The big man and his lovely wife Huda married and had their party in Ras Jebel which is a small town outside bizerte.

They are both in Hammamet on their honeymoon so if you see them say hello!