The Routard Guide's listing of southern Tunisia in the world's TOP 10 destinations will help boost tourism in 2024 compared with the previous year. said Local Tourism Cmmissioner in Tozeur and Gafsa Adel Sbita. This is the fruit of efforts of all public and private stakeholders working to diversify the tourist offer and develop alternative tourism, he told TAP. Sbita indicated that southern Tunisia saw positive tourism indicators in 2023, especially in Tataouine, Djebel Dahar, Nefzaoua and Djerid, pointing out that Tozeur has posted a 26.7% rise in the number of visitors and +22.5% in terms of overnight stays, compared to 2022. "This increase is expected to last in 2024 with the implementation of a promotional programme by the Tunisian National Tourist Office (French: ONTT) in a bid to conquer new Asian markets", he added. The official further said that the air route linking Orly airport (Paris) to Tozeur has helped to boost the number of promotional campaigns between late December 2023 and early 2024. S ource: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse Jalel Kadri Head Coach of the Tunisian national team is aware of the threats posed by minnows like Mozambique and Cape Verde, ahead of their opening game against Namibia on Tuesday, January 16, at the Amadou Gon Coulibaly Stadium in Korhogo He described the performances of Mozambique and Cape Verde against Egypt and Ghana as 'eye openers' hence the need to be wary of Namibia in their game. According to Kadri, playing against Namibia in the opening match was in no way an advantage, as the tournament had already shown that there are no small teams in Africa. 'Namibia is a serious opponent, and we don't have any easy team. The results in the opening rounds have shown that there are no small team in Africa. So we need to show them respect and play to our best ability. The opening matches have shown that,' he stated. Tunisia is making their 21st appearance in the competition, with this edition being the 16th in a row - a record in the history of the tournament thus far. He said his team had prepared enough to go as far as possible in the competition. 'We would try to go as far as possible. We have teams that are good quality so we would try to win each match and go as far as possible. We must respect all opponents. 'There are Africa's best teams that are present so ours is to do our best in every match and take it game by game,' he stated. Source: Ghana News Agency