Necessary preparations must be undertaken to ensure success of tourist season (Minister of Transport)

The tourist season looks promising, and there is a need to undertake the necessary logistical preparations to make it safe and avoid some of the problems encountered in recent seasons, at a time when forecasts for tourist arrivals at Tunis-Carthage International Airport point to 7 million passengers among Tunisians abroad and tourists this season, says Transport Minister Rabii Majidi. He underlined in this regard, the need to devise integrated action programmes, related to commercial and technical operations at various border crossings, by air, sea and land, and to take all necessary measures to ensure the success of the summer season in coordination between the various stakeholders, according to a transport department press release on Wednesday. Majidi's recommendations were made during the first working session on preparations for the forthcoming summer season, attended by representatives of the Civil Aviation and Airports Office, the Merchant Marine and Ports Office, the Tunisair Group, the Tunisian Ship ping Company and a number of ministerial officials. In the same vein, the minister spoke about the project to extend Tunis-Carthage International Airport as one of the pillars of a set of projects proposed by hisdepartment and recently presented and approved at a cabinet meeting. The project mainly involves the construction of a new terminal with a covered area of around 80,000 square metres and a capacity of around 8 million passengers a year, which will bring the airport's capacity to 13 million passengers a year. The expansion project also includes widening the airport viaduct, building a new control tower, installing a railway line linking the airport to the city centre and a second high-speed railway line linking Tunis-Carthage airport to Enfidha-Hammamet airport, as well as building a metro line from Lac de Tunis to Bhar Lazreg. During this session, Majidi called for the need to prepare well for the opening up of promising tourist markets in line with the State's new guidelines. Source: Agence Tun is Afrique Presse