After Tunisia's successful completion of the political transition process in 2014, 2015 was expected to usher in economic and social reforms that w ould promote the aspirations for human dignity and social justice that had originally fired the 2011 Tunisian Revolution. Unfortunately this was not to be. The country was stunned by two painful blows that stifled hopes for growth and progress. The first targeted the Bardo Museum in Tunis in March, killing some 20 foreign tourists. The second occurred on 26 June when gunmen stormed a beach in Sousse and murdered 38 foreign tourists, 30 of them British. In just minutes, the Tunisian tourist industry and economy had been decimated. Sousse stands apart from other Tunisian cities. Its name is derived from the Amazigh word “Susa” meaning steadfastness and, true to its name, it has faced the deteriorating conditions in the aftermath of the terrorist attack with courage and optimism, inspired by the conviction that such barbarity cannot wipe out a history that dates back more than 3,000 years. The archaeological treasures bequeathed by the many civilisations that have succeeded one another in Sousse are such that UNESCO, the UN's cultural arm, declared it a World Heritage Site in 1988. The city was founded by the Phoenicians in 1101 BCE. Originally called Hadrumetum, its name has changed many times over the course of its long history. Located 140 km south of the capital Tunis and 50 km east of Kairouan, Sousse overlooks the Gulf of Hammamet and is situated on the 175 km stretch of land known as the Sahel midway between Boufisha and Chebba. The city has been nicknamed the “Jewel of the Sahel” because of its natural beauty, its cultural openness and diversity, its stretches of silver-sanded beaches, and its religious and historical landmarks, one of which is the famous tower dating from the Roman period and used by armies over the centuries to defend the city against invaders. With a population of more than 400,000 people, Sousse today is the third-largest city in Tunisia, after Tunis and Sfax. Although it is famous as a tourist centre, in view of the importance of this sector in the national economy, industry is the major economic activity in Sousse, in terms of both employment and investment. The city specialises in the mechanical and textile industries. Visitors who have been to Sousse before and are now visiting it again today may not like what they see. There is heavy security everywhere and the shops are largely empty due to the falloff in visitor numbers. There are expressions of dismay and anxiety on the faces of the inhabitants. It is as if a flourishing era had passed and a climate of tension and instability had set in. What might breathe some relief into people's hearts would be the news of the prevention of another terrorist plot or the arrest of a cell of takfiris loyal to the Islamic State (IS) terrorist group. The most recent such news occurred at the time of the terrorist attack on Paris on 13 November. Police in Tunisia preempted another bomb attack against Sousse and arrested the men behind it. The city is still a terrorist target, not solely for itself, but because it is a beacon of hope for economic recovery and employment opportunities in the Sahel and because of its value to the economy and its openness to all cultures and civilisations. An attack on Sousse is an attack against the whole of Tunisia. It is enough to have experienced the reaction to the terrorist assault against Sousse in June to understand why the terrorists have been determined to strike the city again. The economic impact of the attack on Sousse rippled through the Tunisian tourist sector, not just in the city itself but in all other tourist destinations as well, among them Hammamet, Jerba Island, Monastir and Tobroka. It also rippled through the sectors of the economy related to tourism, from traditional crafts and industries to various commercial activities. Tunisia has long been accustomed to creating strategic stockpiles of various goods in preparation for the peak consumer season in the summer. But because of the flight of tourists from the country this year, enormous quantities of consumables went to waste, causing inestimable losses to merchants and the state. A large number of hotels were forced to shut down operations and remain closed to today, and some of the most important tour agencies and service providers have now left the country. The Tunisian government has been compelled to provide special funding to bolster the stricken tourist sector and its employees. It has also provided financial assistance directly to those who have lost their jobs as a result of the disaster and offered grants to hotels and facilitated arrangements for rescheduling debts to banks. Such outlays have compounded the pressures on a national budget already straining under the record deficits of the past few years. The government of Prime Minister Habib Essid has had to search for additional sources of credit and has also had to increase funding for the ministries of defence and the interior at the expense of development projects. Tunisia, long accustomed to being peaceful and open to the world, has become a terrorist target and is now directly concerned in the progress of the war against terrorism. The fallout from the crisis has also gone further. The strikes have marred Tunisia's image among foreign investors, many of whom have left for what they see as more stable countries. This trend may have begun as a trickle following the Bardo Museum attack, but it increased exponentially following the massacre on the beach in Sousse. Today, the Tunisian economy is in the grips of recession. The stock market has collapsed, the Central Bank has announced that anticipated growth rates have shrunk for three consecutive periods, and industrial production shows little sign that economic activity will revive to former levels any time soon. Although the authorities have stepped in to reduce interest rates in the hope that this will stimulate economic recovery, predictions for growth in the remainder of 2015 hover very close to zero due to terrorism and its consequences.
