Tunisia terror attack hotel reopens under new ownership

The Tunisian hotel where 30 British holidaymakers were killed in a terrorist shooting two years ago has reportedly re-opened under a new name.

Now rebranded as Kantaoui Bay, the Imperial Marhaba Hotel has changed hands from Spain’s Riu chain to German group Steigenberger which also has properties in Brussels, Frankfurt and Sharm el Sheikh.

Hotel owner Zohra Driss told the AFP news agency that nearly 6 million dinars (£1.9 million ) has been spent on the property.

“You cannot forget. On the day we reopened, I could think only of the victims and their families,” she said.

“We changed nearly everything, the decor, colour scheme, furniture, the gardens.”

Driss said she is hoping for 90% occupancy this summer, and sees “huge demand” from the German, Russian, Algerian and domestic markets.

“But unfortunately the English are not coming back,” she added.

All hotel staff members managed to keep their jobs following the massacre and subsequent rebranding.

A plaque stands in memorial to the 38 victims on the beach in front of the hotel.

The high season has not yet arrived in Sousse, and there are not so many visitors yet, but rooms at the hotel are currently being sold on Booking.com from £66 per night.

“We’ve spent nearly 500,000 dinars ($200,000) on electronic surveillance gear including cameras and scanners, and now have a control room to monitor the hotel and surroundings,” Ramzi Kessissa, the hotel’s general manager, told AFP.