Tourism
A sector destroyed by the climate crisis
After several months of study, here is what we can deduce from the effects of climate change on soussien tourism :
Distribution in % of the Tunisian coast state
Terrace of a hotel destroyed by rising waters, Sousse, Tunisia
The tourist sector of Sousse is based on mass tourism which implies a huge number of hotels able to host a big number of people.
However this sector is very affected by the climate crisis. Indeed, it depends largely on its sandy coasts, but in our city, 40% of the beaches are vulnerable to rising waters or coastal erosion (0.5 to 1.5m/year)!
Moreover, hotels consume a lot of water but because of the water stress that Tunisia is experiencing, some of their activities could be threatened!
Finally, these problems weaken the Tunisian economic sector which suffers from other negative effects of globalization (sinking of an oil tanker in 2022 on the coast of Gabès, a Tunisian city, which could generate an oil spill and affect the region coasts and even those of Sousse)!
Summary of potentially submersible spaces in Tunisia
However, this sector is more than important for Sousse because it directly employs more than 20,000 people. The loss of this sector would increase the unemployment rate, which is already very high (20% at the end of 2021).
Unemployment rate in Sousse
It is therefore essential to move from mass tourism to more sustainable tourism adapted to climate change and less polluting. This would significantly reduce the consumption of water, electricity, food and many other resources!
