FEATURE-Nip/tuck tourism brings hard cash to Tunisia
06 Dec 2006 18:04:33 GMT Source: Reuters
By Sonia Ounissi TUNIS, Dec 6 (Reuters) - Melinda Tricoli sits beaming with joy in a four-star Tunisian hotel after an operation to flatten her stomach. "I'm so happy. I feel up with the angels. It's spotless, a job well done," she enthuses. Tricoli caught a plane from her native France to Tunisia after a botched job by a French surgeon left her with three lumps on her stomach. "It was a nightmare. I thought I'd never have a flat belly. Now everything is OK, I'm going to enjoy myself and visit a few sights, even if I have to walk slowly." Already a popular sun-and-sea destination boasting ancient ruins as well, Tunisia wants to lure more tourists on high budgets by improving quality and diversifying away from the traditional beach market. Medical tourism is one way to do this. "There is a growing European fad for plastic surgery in Tunisia. It could become a hub for medical tourism," said Slim Ben Yeder, manager of the Soukra Clinic in Tunis. The tourism industry has grown into the former French colony's top foreign currency earner and the biggest employer after the farming sector. The north African country received 6.4 million holidaymakers last year, bringing in 2.56 billion dinars ($1.98 billion). "A traditional tourist spends between 300 and 400 euros during his stay," Ben Yeder said. "But a medical tourist spends 2,500 to 4,000 euros at least." NO MORE WRINKLES Just a short flight from Europe, Tunisia has one of Africa's most developed health infrastructures, skilled medical staff -- many of whom have trained in Europe and the United States -- as well as the traditional tourism attractions. But it is arriving late on the medical tourism scene. The industry has taken off in many developing countries in the last 10 years as the price of cosmetic surgery in Europe and the United States soared. For example, in Europe, former communist countries in the east are luring western customers with cut-price cosmetic surgery and dentistry. Tunisian health industry officials say the country can catch up fast by offering low prices. Wearing a short skirt and a tight black top, British transvestite Joanna Searl strolls proudly past a hotel swimming pool in Tunis on her way to visit the ancient ruins of Carthage. She came to Tunisia for a breast operation and to remove the fine lines around her eyes. "No more wrinkles and real, normal breasts for just 8,500 euros," said the 52-year-old therapist. "This would cost 20,000 pounds (29,720 euros) in Britain." Breast enlargement costs around 2,600 euros in Tunisia including the travel. The surgery alone costs double that in France. "Our country offers attractive opportunities and low prices because Tunisia has lower living standards than Europe," said Amor Dehissy, manager of the travel agency Estetika Tour. Set up in 2004, Estetika Tour pioneered medical tourism in Tunisia with a Web site combining cosmetic surgery information with recommendations on what to see while visiting. The industry is still small -- some 200,000 people have plastic surgery in France each year, while Tunisia drew just 500 foreign tourists for surgery last year, 80 percent of them French -- but expectations are high. "If we manage to get 5,000 to 10,000 people every year, this will be an extraordinary industry," said Ben Yeder.
