“Le Tunisien est un bon client qui revient et qui consomme ...” On New Trends in Tunisian Domestic Tourism

Abstract

The most remarkable recent development in Tunisian tourism is the growing number of domestic tourists spending their holidays in the same tourist zones and hotels as the international tourists do. There even are hotels in which up to 40% of the guests are domestic tourists. By now, domestic demand has become an important aspect of the Tunisian tourist industry. This article explores the holiday styles of domestic tourists. It will show in what aspects they are the same and in what aspects these are different from the holiday styles European tourists favour. In this respect, intercultural communication, i.e. communication between European and Tunisian tourists, is especially important. The fact that the result is cultural contact and not cultural conflict is largely due to the successful use by hotel directors of rules and regulations to create fixed and equalizing standards of conduct for all tourists. In addition, animateurs strive to create friendly relations among the different cultures. In a second st...