Connecting Paradise, Culture and Tourism in Tunisia

Abstract

This paper will focus on the impact of tourism on the culture of Tunisia. Impressionistic evidence collected over the past 30 years will be used to explore the appropriateness of some of the more widely held views of tourism's impact on culture. The findings highlight the need to recognise the uniqueness of Tunisia's situation whilst at the same time appreciating the value of general concepts for furthering understanding of the interaction between tourism and culture. The concept of “paradise” in the context of Tunisia's tourism industry will be shown to have limited influence in the relationship between tourism and culture. For the purposes of this discussion “culture” is limited to the social aspects of culture, though it is recognised that it is difficult to separate the social from the political, economic and even the environmental aspects of culture.