Around 1,400 kilometres of Mediterranean coastline, 300 days of sunshine per year, thermal springs and advantageous prices: Tunisia, the world number two in thalassotherapy, is pushing its strengths with the ambition of stealing first place from France.
Compared to other countries in the region, "Tunisia's main assets are its beaches and thalassotherapy," says Mario Paolo, an Italian spa guest in Korbous, a spa town perched on a hill an hour's drive from Tunis.
Having lived in Tunisia for five years, this 78-year-old retiree frequently comes "to get back into shape" at the thalassotherapy centre of a luxury hotel where AFP met him.
Korbous was "the first thalassotherapy and thermal cure site" in the country, created at the beginning of the 20th century, explains Shahnez Guizani, general director of the National Office of Thermalism and Hydrotherapy (ONTH).
This seaside resort remains, however, less well-known internationally than destinations such as Sousse, Hammamet, Monastir or Djerba (south), the Mediterranean capital of thalassotherapy in 2014.
"Enjoying the sea water and the springs is not only a leisure activity but also a therapy," emphasizes Mr. Paolo, after a massage with aromatic oils.
Rouaa Machat, 22, came from France for a three-day cure to “enjoy the three waters” of Korbous: sea water, spring water – ancient Carpis has six springs – and fresh water (desalinated sea water). “And I’m here for that too,” says this Franco-Tunisian, pointing to the panoramic view of the sea and mountains that she can admire in her jacuzzi through a glass cabin.
"The spa guests come mainly for the quality of the spring water," says Ms Raja Haddad, the doctor in charge of the thermal and thalassotherapy centre at the Royal Tulip Korbous Bay hotel.
"It is an ancestral heritage since hydrotherapy has existed in Tunisia since Antiquity, at the time of the Carthaginians and the Romans," notes Ms. Guizani of ONTH.
With its 60 thalassotherapy centers and 390 Spas (fitness centers), including 84% in hotels, Tunisia ranks second in the world behind France, according to the ONTH.
"Hydrotherapy in general attracts 1.2 million visitors and spa guests per year in all the centres, (thermal) resorts and Spas" with 70% of European customers including 40% of French, underlines Ms Guizani.
Thalassotherapy turnover represents 50% of health tourism, or 200 million dinars per year (around 60 million euros).
– “Sun and quality-price” –
Tourism in the North African country, penalized over the last decade by attacks and Covid, has experienced "a recovery and has returned to the levels of 2010", the reference year, according to Ms. Guizani.
The number of foreign visitors officially exceeded ten million in 2024, a record for this sector which represents 7% of Tunisian GDP and nearly 500,000 direct and indirect jobs.
Near Monastir airport (central-east), the thalassotherapy center of another luxury hotel welcomes dozens of French, German, English, Canadian and Asian tourists in the middle of winter.
"As soon as you arrive, you find palm trees, the sun... Pure bliss! But there is also the quality-price ratio. Here the cures are much cheaper than in France: 1,000 euros per week all inclusive instead of 3,000," Monique Dicroco, a 65-year-old French woman, told AFP.
Coming from Cannes, Jean-Pierre Ferrante, 64, another Frenchman, believes that "the quality of the water and the facilities is as good as in France".
After a period of crisis aggravated by the pandemic, tourists are back, confirms Dr. Kaouther Meddeb, head of the thalassotherapy center and Spa at the Royal Elyssa in Monastir.
"Tunisia is a pioneer in respecting international standards" but the sector remains "undervalued", she believes, deploring a "lack of communication and publicity".
Air services in a country with few low-cost flights should also be improved, and more attention should be paid to the environment and roads, according to several experts.
Projects are underway to develop ecological thermal spas, in the mountainous village of Beni M'tir (north-west) or near Lake Ichkeul, explains Ms. Guizani, convinced that "Tunisia has all the assets to become world number one."
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