11/08/2019 16:47

Commercial break

[IMG=18556-4147] As BANKO discovered, in 2006 Tunisian investment in promoting its travel product on the territory of Russia will be reduced by over 35%. The Tunisian office reported that for these purposes 400 thousand Euro was provided (to compare, before the season 2005 the advertising budget was $750 thousand). According to Mejid Kahlaoui, deputy director of the Tunisian National Tourist Office, ‘this money is not enough for the TV advertisement’, so the main stake will be out on radio, Internet, specialized press and outdoor advertisement. For a comparison Turkey spent $6 million on promotion in Russia, Croatia will invest $3 million in 2006 in TV advertisement and joint projects with tour operating companies. The market participants differently appreciate the efficiency of the outdoor advertising policy of Tunisia in Russia. For example, Alla Philimonova, head of the direction of Africa, Close and Middle East in ‘Intourist’ believes that the Tunisian tourist office succeeded in regions thanks to its participation in local exhibitions and presentations. She explains it also by the fact that ‘the main tourist flow to Tunisia as well as any mainstream destination can be expected from regions rather than capital cities’. There is certain logic in it: citizens of Moscow and Saint Petersburg is a sophisticated audience, their minds is already overloaded with advertisements from other tourist destinations. It is hard to stand out among the others and surprise the capital tour operators. It might explain why, according to operators interviewed by BANKO, Moscow does not have a visible support from the Tunisian office. Specialists believe that in the capital it would be more efficient to have an address support of tour operators instead of direct advertisement to direct customers. This is why based on it the Tunisian office is being criticized. Lyudmila Vtorova, head of the Department of Croatia, UAE and Tunisia believes that the volumes of advertisement of the Tunisian destination is ‘not sufficient this year’. According to her, the Tunisian party should also provide a support to large operating companies. At the moment the company can only deal with it itself independently. According to specialists, now when the Tunisian budget for the next year is known and a new head of the office is appointed (BANKO already informed about it in the previous news report), the only thing left is to use it wisely. We will see the conclusions which the Tunisian party will come to analyzing the criticism by the spring, when traditionally advertising campaigns of the summer destinations are launched.