Cultural Heritage Tourism

Visit Tunisia

The northernmost country in Africa, Tunisia sits at the axis of Africa, the Middle East, and Europe. Its complex history weaves together centuries of Indigenous and adopted cultural traditions, and it is the home to several UNESCO World Heritage Sites, including the city of Kairouan and the Amphitheater of El Jem. Located in between the Mediterranean Sea and the Sahara Desert, the country also hosts stunning natural geography, such as beaches, mountains, and plains.

In March 2022, the Center launched a partnership with USAID’s five-year Visit Tunisia Activity to highlight the country’s rich and varied cultural and natural diversity by enhancing the tourism industry. Through various programs centered on music, dance, food, craft, and more, we work with local artisans to help visitors experience Tunisian hospitality and its vibrant, contemporary cultural life.

Our activities include participatory workshops, mentorships, exchange opportunities, and work with in-country partners. The programs create cultural heritage tourism experiences that benefit both visitors and communities and align with Visit Tunisia’s regional priorities: Kebili/Douz, Gabès/Matmata, Kairouan, Jendouba/Tabarka, Tataouine/Dahar, and Tozeur/Nafta.

A woman wearing a long-sleeved printed black and white dress and colorful headscarf holds up a circular tan and orange basket woven from natural materials. — Photo courtesy of Raafet Khiari

Key Activities

Tunisia’s Living Culture

Tunisia’s Living Culture is a research-based project to support the development of community-led tourism experiences. Led by a scientific committee of Tunisian scholars and USAID Visit Tunisia Activity partner engagement specialist Ahmed Charfi, the project began with a research symposium and included workshops and one-on-one mentorship activities with culture bearers.

Scientific Committee

A man wearing a black dress shirt and cap speaks into a microphone

Lotfi Belhouchet

PhD, Prehistory, Archaeology, History, and Civilization of Antiquity and Middle Age (Université de Provence, Aix-Marseille)
Researcher, Institut National du Patrimoine
Professor of Prehistory, University of Sousse

A woman wearing a white blouse and ornate necklace.

Awatef Mansour

PhD, Heritage Sciences (University of Tunis)
Assistant Professor of Art History and Heritage Sciences, University of Manouba
Member, Maghreb Archaeology and Architecture Laboratory

A woman wearing a peach-colored blouse and floral headscarf.

Hamida Trabelsi-Bacha

PhD, Ethnology and Social Anthropology (EHESS-Paris)
Assistant Professor, Higher Institute of Human Sciences of Tunis, Tunis El Manar University
Researcher, International Network of the Laboratory of Social Anthropology

Researchers

Bassem Abida

Rayhane Boukil

Nejia Chihaoui

Sourour Chtourou

Amal Fargi

Omezzine Hajji

Hechmi Houcine

Sawsen Kaabi

Hatem Lajmi

Takwa Louhichi

Houda Mansour

Mohamed Ali Rtimi

Symposium

In September 2022, the Center and USAID Visit Tunisia Activity collaborated with the National Heritage Institute in Tunisia to co-host a symposium on intangible cultural heritage and tourism, addressing opportunities and challenges and discussing cultural practices that may be appropriate for sensitive tourism experience development.

Workshops

In January 2023, 280 culture bearers and researchers took part in a series of workshops co-taught by Charfi and Center director of special projects Halle Butvin. The workshops focused on creating concepts for cultural tourism experiences. Participants learned about experiential tourism and participated in hands-on activities to design their own tourism experience concepts.

Mentorship

After the workshops, the scientific committee reviewed concepts and selected thirty experiences for further support, which included one-on-one mentorship and access to USAID Visit Tunisia Activity’s grantmaking programs. In May 2023, Butvin and Charfi conducted site visits, accompanying researchers to each of the thirty experiences to discuss their concept and script development and begin the process of mentorship in tourism enterprise skills.

More than thirty people pose in two rows. — A session during the 2022 Intangible Cultural Heritage Symposium
Photo courtesy of Tunisia’s Agency for the Development of Heritage and Cultural Promotion

Two men and two women sit around weaving works in progress, might of light tan-colored stripes of palm fiber. — Artisan Mabrouka Chaibi meets with Ahmed Charfi, researcher Mohamed Ali Rtimi, and Visit Tunisia staff member Amal Tiss to discuss her palm-weaving experience.
Photo by Halle Butvin

Folklife Festival Exchange

Since 1967, the Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage has produced the Smithsonian Folklife Festival—one of the biggest cultural events in the United States—in partnership with communities across the country and around the world. The Folklife Festival Exchange, led by experienced Festival staff, brings our practice to communities through training, mentorship, and exchange activities.

Workshops

In March 2022, Butvin and project coordinator Sloane Keller delivered workshops for 230 cultural festival and event organizers throughout Tunisia. The course covered Smithsonian Folklife Festival modes of presentation, community engagement, and practical aspects like budgeting, volunteer management, and site design. Participants received a toolkit, translated into Arabic, with templates, examples, and other resources for festival design and management.

A group of people seated at tables face the front of the room, where a woman is giving a slide presentation. Many of them wear headphones for translation devices. — Attendees listen intently during a one-day Festival & Events Management workshop in Tozeur.
Photo courtesy of Raafet Khiari

Exchange

In June 2022, with support from the Embassy of the United States in Tunis, the team hosted a small cohort of festival organizers, Visit Tunisia project staff, and cultural sector leaders for a one-week learning exchange at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival. The itinerary included behind-the-scenes meetings with Festival staff and daily group sessions to discuss observations. In 2022 and 2023, Center staff traveled to Tunisia to observe partner festivals and held virtual sessions to dive deeper into topics of interest.

Festival organizers, Visit Tunisia project staff, and U.S. Embassy Tunis staff attend the 2022 Smithsonian Folklife Festival.

Photo courtesy of Sloane Keller

Articles

Sufi Dance: Mouled, Music, and Cultural Memory in a Tunisian Festival | Folklife Magazine

January 17, 2023 | By Sloane Keller and Rebecca Fenton

Mouled is the celebration of the birth of Mohammed, Islam’s prophet. Worldwide, Muslims gather to hear poems and stories about the prophet’s life, recite the Qur’an, and enjoy festive music and foods.