The Edhiafa Association of which you are president met the owners of guest houses, lodges, hotel boutiques  and camps in Tunisia. It was born in June 2011. What is your assessment of this first year of existence?
The EDHIAFA Association was launched in June 2011, but it was not until December that we were officially recognized and approved and we started our business.
For this first year, we undertook to structure the association saw both the administrative point of view that internal point with the creation of a committee and the setting up of a roadmap.

Today, with over 50  representative members of structures  covering the whole country, several targets have been set and I hope they can all be achieved. But with the current economic climate, our members had as primary objective the promotion of alternative tourism and protection of our products through various international exhibitions such as Tunis, Paris and Brussels, also in this we were invited to lounges in Barcelona and Geneva in 2013.
To support this promotion, we have published a practical guide that lists the accommodations and our website is under construction. It will be launched next month.

This first year will be a base year with the development of the specifications which is a cornerstone to the building that will serve as essential basis for the development of our business.

What is the specification for the different types of accommodation?
In collaboration with the national tourism board, we could set up the specifications for the cottages and rural houses . That of hotel boutiques  is being developed. The problem is that these specifications have not yet been notified by the Minister of Tourism.

Owners or tenants of guesthouses often complained of the length and difficulties related to the approval of their accommodation from ONTT. to What extent has the situation evolved and how?

With the regulatory environment, approval will be easier to obtain and especially the time will be shortened. Any personne wanting to embark on the experience of alternative accommodation can withdraw the specifications from the ONTT and apply all the requirements to receive the precious document.

What about control of alternative accommodation in Tunisia?
Up- To – date, the control is done by ONTT but in the coming months, it will be together with our association to have an external eye.

What are the objectives that bind the association for this second year?
Alternative accommodation has grown significantly in recent years, the intended growth of our members because Tunisians are increasingly interested in these new types of structures.
The creation of a pledging collateral Label both for our guests and for our members who have a classification of their accommodation according to their category is also our priorities.

Edhiafa Association
edhiafa@hotmail.com


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