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The Tunisian Tourist Board is lining up agencies to pitch for its

account as part of efforts to revive waning interest from UK

holidaymakers.

The move comes amid a growing belief that Tunisia can benefit from

Britons’ boredom with Spain and the earthquakes in Turkey.

Houssem Ben Azouz, the Tunisian National Tourist Office’s UK director,

is understood to have earmarked five agencies to contest the UK and

Ireland account.

Dynamo Promotional Marketing currently handles its advertising, while

media is by the Collins Partnership.

A total of 264,000 Britons visited Tunisia last year and, although

numbers are expected to rise by 5 per cent during 1999, numbers will

fall short of the 300,000 target which the country’s tourist chiefs have

been trying to hit.

’They feel that they are in a unique position to increase numbers but

they know that they need to do something about their image,’ an industry

source said.

Tunisia grew in popularity as a holiday destination during the 80s but

has found itself suffering from outdated perceptions and declining

interest from UK tourists.

Last year Dynamo created Tunisia’s first TV advertising in the UK for a

decade, as well as a press and poster campaign under the theme ’more

from the Mediterranean’.