Cultural heritage and tourism in Tunisia : Evolution, challenges, and perspectives

Since the nineteenth century, the notion of heritage in Tunisia has experienced a number of different identities and political and cultural reorientations which have gradually made it primarily an instrument of tourism-related economic development. The notion of heritage in the country has evolved from one that has been historically stigmatised to a vision of much more mature preservation movement, which suggests a dynamic co-construction in connection with the growth of place marketing and tourism. Indeed, when tourism was initially developed in Tunisia in the mid-1960s, heritage became a branch of industry and focus of development activity. In more recent decades, tourism has led to a more reflexive effort surrounding the notion of heritage that has been intended to systematise the tourist offering and to promote local cultural development. However, the tourist valuation of the heritage has always been confronted with numerous constraints, including the amount of investment, the legal status of sites and monuments, and the logics of local actors. Framed by questions of social, political, ideological, and economic dynamics, the chapter questions the notion and the use of heritage in Tunisia and analyses the interactions with tourism since the colonial period