20110928
Reuters
TUNIS (Reuters) - Tourism revenue in Tunisia has tumbled since the uprising that forced autocratic leader Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali to flee the country in January, sliding about 40 percent year-on-year in the first nine months of 2011, official figures showed on Tuesday.

Tourism is one of Tunisia's biggest sources of income and employment.

Revenues for the year up to September 20 were 1.52 billion Tunisian dinars, against 2.5 billion dinars for the same period in 2011, the figures released by the Tourism Ministry showed.

The number of tourists coming to Tunisia fell by 35 percent to about 3.387 million visitors, the ministry said.

But the numbers showed a recovery from the first half of this year, when the ministry said revenues had dropped 51 percent.

Tunisia's January revolution electrified the Middle East and inspired "Arab Spring" uprisings in Egypt, Yemen and elsewhere.

The revolution was followed by a period of rioting and protests which, for a brief period, caused thousands of tourists to flee and prompted many tour operators to suspend dealings with the country.