Doha – Mubasher: Qatar will establish a number of touristic projects in Tunisia, some of which are under construction, including Qatari Diar's $80 million project in Tozeur, Qatar News Agency (QNA) reported, citing Tunisian minister of tourism and handicraft Salma Loumi Rkik as saying.

Diar’s desert resort project is scheduled for inauguration in 2018.

There are tourism projects in Tunisia for Qatari investors, including a mega project which is valued at $300 million and will see a resort built over 15 hectares in Gammarth, in the northern area of the Tunisian capital, QNA reported, citing the minister.

“The resort comprises a five-star hotel, a 5,000-seater conference hall, and residential villas,” she added on Tuesday at a press conference in Doha.       

Rkik’s comments came at the end of her tour in the Gulf, which also included Saudi Arabia and the UAE, and which aimed to promote the Tunisian tourism market.

“The ties between Tunisia and Qatar are deep, historic, and excellent, in addition to showing Qatar’s support to the progress after Tunisian uprising in 2011,” the Tunisian minister highlighted.

“Qatari investors are most welcomed to visit Tunisia and invest in its promising tourism sector,” the minister, concluding that Tunisian tourism is improving again owing to a new strategic vision.

The North African country has welcomed 5.7 million tourists in 2016, and is expected to see more than 6.5 million tourists this year, the minister concluded.

Nearly three million Arab tourists visited Tunisia in 2016, making up nearly half of the total number of tourists, with Algerian and Libyan tourists leading the list.