2023-09-27 10:54:07
For decades, Tunisia has driven a powerful dynamic of conservation and promotion of cultural heritage throughout the national territory. Its firm determination to safeguard the different layers of national memory is combined with a desire to elevate several sites and destinations to the rank of metropolis concerned with the balance between nature and culture, between heritage and development.
Djerba, a tourist destination par excellence, but also cultural and historical, has recently been included on the UNESCO world heritage list. This distinction requires significant work to identify the listed property and a strong commitment to revaluing all its components. Djerba, this island with high heritage value, has a singular significance, because it is witness to a long historical continuum. It fulfills, in fact, two criteria capable of qualifying the exceptional universal value of a site: a place of considerable exchange of influences and an eminent example of an architectural ensemble illustrating a significant period of human history. The inclusion of this island on the south coast as a world heritage site “adds to the successes recently recorded in the name of Tunisia. All of Tunisia is part of the heritage of humanity,” underlines President Kaïs Saïd.
This inclusion of the island on the UNESCO world heritage list will, without a doubt, have a great impact on Tunisian tourism. Note that the Djerba integration file, which was presented, is made up of 31 sites and monuments. In this case, these are 7 continental zones, two of which have dense occupation (Hara Sghira and the old center of Houmet Souk) and 5 which have suburban occupation (Temlel, Khazroun, Sedghiène, Guechéine, Mejmej). 24 monuments located (mosques, synagogues and churches) throughout the island. The island of Djerba is a serial property which is added to the 8 Tunisian sites classified as world heritage, including 7 cultural sites and a natural site.
This means that across the national territory, natural sites, cultural sites, rock-hewn areas, oasis systems, town planning and architecture can now also appear on a future indicative list so that possible inscription proposals can be made. be prepared and submitted to UNESCO authorities to study their eligibility for world heritage status.
DMO: diversify and renew the image of the destination
Inspired by the first management body of a regional tourist destination, the “Authentic Tourism Federation Destination Dahar”, created in March 2018 for the Dahar destination, the tourism stakeholders of Djerba, in partnership with the Tunisian National Tourism Office and the Ministry of Tourism, initiated a federative dynamic at the end of 2019. They started from the obvious observation that grouping together is essential to coordinate and promote the Djerba destination.
Thus, the DMO (Djerba Mangement Organization) was born in February 2021, supported, as part of the “destination South-East Tunisia” project, by the Swiss State Secretariat for the Economy (Seco), implemented by Swisscontact and conducted in collaboration with the Tunisian Ministry and National Tourism Office.
The objective being to diversify and renew the image of the destination, by integrating all the tourism offers, in particular seaside, sporting, cultural, heritage, relaxation, leisure, health… it is also regarding offering a diversified, inclusive and sustainable tourism in Djerba.
The project also aims to bring together the greatest number of tourist providers and public and private actors active and promoters in the tourism sector of the island of Djerba, to offer services to TOs and visitors to the island and to members of the DMO Djerba in order to promote the tourist offer of this destination.
In a public-private partnership, the DMO brings together hoteliers, travel agencies, restaurateurs, providers and promoters of cultural and sporting activities, artisans, guides and associations. He is accompanied and advised by the ONTT.
The DMO simultaneously carries out activities to promote the Djerba destination, consensual territorial marketing, relayed by the island’s operators, digital and participatory marketing on the internet and social networks and strengthening the diversity of the tourist offer. and para-tourism during all seasons…
Supporting statistics
According to the latest statistics from the Ministry of Tourism and Crafts, the accommodation rate of most hotels on the island of Djerba came close to 100% during the 2023 summer season. All tourist markets were present on the island, led by the French market (152,000 tourists). The number of Tunisian tourists present in Djerba reached around 138,000. This performance is the result of the promotional campaign launched by the supervisory department in order to boost demand for the Tunisian destination (seaside, Saharan and mountain tourism).
The Ministry of Tourism is fully mobilized to diversify the tourist offer and adapt it to the new requirements of tourists, particularly in terms of cultural, rural and ecological tourism, which will allow our country to attract a diverse segment of visitors, and this throughout the year. He has been working for years to preserve Tunisian specificity and activate this lever in order to attract a clientele fond of authenticity. Tunisia is a country whose resources and heritage are naturally abundant. It has great room for maneuver to develop its own tourism industry without aligning itself with the Western model.
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