AIBU to wonder why holidays to Tunisia are so much cheaper?

Blimey, that must have been an awful experience. I was so naive wanting to go to Tunisia just because it was different. My friend and I are very pale skinned and never look tanned. We attracted more attention and had men sitting around us on the beach. We went to Sousse.

Following the terrorist attack, the British government assisted with security training. We have always felt very safe with all the private beaches patrolled. You don’t even get sellers like you do in Majorca etc!

We were a bit wary of Tunisia but went a couple of years ago last minute…been back 3 times since! Safe, excellent water sports, lots of interesting things to do, great weather and beaches and amazing value. We were very surprised.
we also have found out the Tunisian medical service is excellent - cheap, private, British trained doctors in many cases!

We went about 11 years ago and my then 3 year old got salmonella (5 star AI hotel).

Fortunately he came down ill on our way home so could be treated in our local hospital.

He nearly died.

@CoffeeCantata I completely agree with you and Ive been disgusted too by the behaviour of many European tourists so many times, but especially British tourists. Maybe the reason that Inbetweeners type behaviour is tolerated better in countries such as Spain is because drinking alcohol is culturally acceptable, whereas that’s not really the case in North Africa. I can’t say that Ive ever noticed a stag do or obvious lads’ do anywhere in North Africa.

Lucky you

Good for you. Personally, I prefer to holiday away from water borne illnesses and within reach of excellent medical facilities.

This is exactly what I was going to say.

@CoffeeCantata, Agadir got its English nickname Shagadir from the drunken, leery British tourist invasion of the early 1980s. The town made a huge effort to attract upmarket resort hotels instead, but seems to have reached an uneasy compromise - and, from what I hear, become utterly pissed off with us, our beer crawls and our rude attitude.

The stupid thing is, young women are at least as likely to be sexually harassed and assaulted by British 'lads on tour' as by local misogynists. Collectively, we present a snapshot of our behaviour that must be a tad misleading to the residents of holiday destinations.

I've never had so much hassle and intimidation as I have had in Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia. It's a completely different league.

We went to Tunisia 3 years ago. It was a shit hole. Never again. The men, the beggars, the taxis.. It was one of the most stressful holidays we've had. (the worst being Egypt)

I did not at any point during my trips to Tunisia feel that my health and wellbeing were at risk.

@Growlybear83

i suspect there has been a chronic problem for decades with European tourists around the Mediterranean behaving badly- in Spain particularly- and possibly in other places. I can imagine that the Spanish and other nationalities who’ve seen behaviour like that in The Inbetweeners films have a very poor image of Brits, for example. But they seem to grin and bear it! Personally I’m disgusted by the image some British tourists must give of British culture.

i dont know if the same applies to N Africa, though- or whether they get the lads’ holidays etc to the same extent.

The OP asked. These were my thoughts and views as to why people don’t go. The beach killings are still remembered.

@CoffeeCantataYou could be right about the timing, although we were in Luxor during the height of the Arab spring and have visited Morocco and Tunisia since then and have still not had any issues. I think you’re also right to an extent about the larger towns and cities and I think there is a similar difference in lots of countries. Thinking about Tunisia, it must be disheartening to live in a town that has expanded rapidly out of all recognition to cater for foreign tourists, many of whom spend more money in a couple of days without a thought than the Tunisians working at their hotel earn in a month. We’ve all seen how some tourists treat local staff with complete disdain and disrespect, and it must be difficult for people who have been brought up as Muslims to respect tourists who spend a fortune on alcohol, walk around in skimpy clothing (not just around their hotel pool) and frequently show no interest in the country’s culture. I don’t think it’s surprising that they may have become anti European. I do agree with you that it’s not acceptable to grope women or to spit at people, but then again, how many women have been groped on the London Underground? In all my visits to North Africa I can remember being groped once, whereas it’s happened many times on the underground.

having said that, my daughter lived alone and worked in Cairo for a year in her mid 20s and really loved it. She travelled around on her own, often at night, and never felt unsafe. She was welcomed into the community where she lived. She also lived in Jordan for several years, and really embraced the culture, to the extent that she converted to Islam a few years ago. She is now happier and more at peace than Ive ever known her.

You’ve clearly not been on safari or travelled much to Africa. It’s like comparing Benidorm to south of France. Africa is huge and tourism experiences vast, some are cheap, some very expensive.

🤣🤣🤣🤣

Nope. Personally don’t see why you’d want to travel somewhere where your safety and wellbeing are put at risk, no matter how lovely things are in the confines of your all inclusive. For me it wouldn’t be an enjoyable or relaxing experience.

DH worked extensively in various third world countries. He had many opportunities to bring DD and I out for holidays in lovely 5 star hotels - for me that didn’t take away from the fact that local terrorist groups were running rife, local healthcare facilities were lacking and as women the safety of DD and I couldn’t be guaranteed. We always graciously declined the company offers and continued our holidays in more civilised places..

@Growlybear83

Thanks - this is really interesting and I'm glad you have had the positive experiences you mention. I'm thinking: is it something to do with the time - I get the impression that the rise of militant Islam and the events of the early 2000s, as well as the 2011 revolutions in the North African countries may have had an effect on how Westerners (silly term in this case...but you know what I mean) are viewed by the populace. Perhaps they have become anti-Europeans for a number of reasons - not necessarily justified ones, but I'm looking for some kind of rationale.

The other thought I had was...my husband worked in Egypt for several years on and off, and hated Cairo and the big cities. He said he felt safe as a man, but was aware of the harrassment towards European women. But! He loved the Egyptian people in the villages. He found them welcoming, warm, genuine, kind and very funny and witty. He was invited to their homes and got on well with them. These were village people, not middle class professionals (whom he also met and liked, btw).

Perhaps the nasty attitudes and behaviour mentioned here are largely a feature of the cities and tourist resorts. Still no excuse, of course, but maybe the Tunisians in the less-visited areas are more friendly and less aggressive???

I still don't think the behaviour mentioned by some pps is acceptable in any shape or form in the 21st century, whatever people's cultural and religious beliefs, though. I'm sure it's not any part of Islam to grope women, insult them and spit at them??? No-one should make excuses for this (not saying you are, btw).

I have a lovely Muslim DIL before anyone accuses me of Islamophobia!!

You get that with anywhere though, including major European cities - Paris, Naples, Malaga etc One person will have their best experience ever, others will find them dirty, crime ridden, boring etc

If you read threads on MN, you will find women having bad experiences daily with non-Muslim men. I’ve not had any bad experiences with Muslim men in any countries.

Plenty of people go on holidays in developing countries.

I’m really well travelled all over the world. I have been to Tunisia and it’s one place I would never go to ever again

As @HermioneWeasley said, there really isn't much of Carthage left to see, so don't be too upset if you don't make it. I remember being disappointed. I'm more sad about not getting to Libya's Greek and Roman sites. I went to south western Libya but thought I would do a separate trip to the north at a later date...

I did a tour of Tunisia and loved it. I wasn't hassled as much as in Egypt (Luxor being especially bad as mentioned by a PP.) However, it was years ago so might well have got worse since.

@CoffeeCantata

Growly - this isn’t meant to sound aggressive - it’s a genuine question: can you say why you had such positive experiences? What did you do and not do? I’d be interested to know, because not many pps have had such a pleasant time

I’m sorry, I missed your earlier question. Im not quite sure why our experiences have always been so positive - We’ve just always had really relaxing and enjoyable holidays. Since the late 1980s we’ve avoided the large resorts and big hotels, and have usually travelled independently rather than on a package. The country is obviously very different now to how it was when I first went in the mid 1960s - it was just after the seven days war and there were, I think, only three hotels in the whole of Hammamet, and there were only 20 guests in our hotel. Tourism was really in its infancy and it was quite a novelty to go to a country thst was so culturally different.

I went back to Sousse for my honeymoon in 1980, and we got friendly with a couple of young Tunisians when we first arrived, who took us under their wing. We spent several days out with them, travelling to places like El Djem on the train, and we were invited to a family wedding. They treated us like royalty, and I didn’t even buy a rug from the shop where one of them worked. 😆 We went back several times in the 1980s and met up with them each time. We had started travelling round the country more by that time, and had discovered the Kerkennah Islands, where got to know a couple of the waiters in the hotel where we stayed, and are still in touch with one of them to this day; he turned up in London during the snow one winter and we had the chance to reciprocate the kindness he had shown us . We had a couple of trips to Morocco as well during that time and again, got to know a group of local Moroccan men around our age who started off trying to sell us things when we left our hotel for the first time, but quickly became friends and took us to various bars and restaurants, and cooked for us in their homes.

we went back to Tunisia in the late 1990s with our daughter when she was 6 or 7 and that started her love of North Africa and the Middle East. Tunisian people really made a fuss of her and she loved going to people’s houses when we were invited. We went to Egypt for several years when my daughter was in her early teens because there was so much we wanted to see and while we found the level of harassment very much greater than anything Ive ever experienced in Tunisia, it was copable with, and we didn’t let ourselves get agitated like many people we saw. Again, we went to local bars and restaurants and made a couple of friends who we still keep in touch with. We travelled around the country independently and stayed in some lovely places.

since we’ve been holidaying alone again, my husband and I have had a number of trips to Tunisia and Morocco where we’ve just booked flights and hired a car from the airport and explored much more easily than we did previously when we were younger by train.

It goes without saying that the beaches and weather are almost always wonderful, as they are for most people. But in answer TK your question, We don’t do anything out of the ordinary when we go to North Africa - we respect local customs and culture, use local restaurants, avoid big hotels and other tourists, and just try to get on with local people. We must have been to Tunisia, Morocco, and Egypt at least 25 times in total and in all that time the only problem we’ve ever had was getting arrested in Morocco in our 20s. We weren’t given any real reason for the arrest but the police clearly didnt like us being squashed in a car with three Moroccans; they let us go happily when one of our friends gave them a lump of dope 😆😆

Yes - I’ve spoken to a few people who have booked Tunisia and then panicked after the ME attacks.