The tunisian saharan heritage in the challenge of a sustainable tourism: the case of Tozeur and Nefta

Abstract

In the Saharan cities of the Tunisian southwest renowned for their culture, traditions and very specific architectural heritage, tourism in recent years has resulted in a reflexive effort around the notion of heritage intended to systematize the tourist offer and promote local development. Today, tourism and heritage in these fragile and vulnerable desert spaces are two realities which greatly affect the landscapes, economic and cultural activities and movements of the population. These processes, now the concern of public and private actors alike, have contributed, by the new creations which they engender in terms of representation and use of places, to a reinvention of the Saharan traditional city and its oasis known as archetypal territorial joint property, increasing the individuals’ attachment to their places of life. Indeed, in the face of a tourism which often does not adhere to strategies and practices of sustainable development, especially in these spaces, we wonder how the latter can reduce the potential damage of tourism on the heritage from a perspective of territorial sustainability.