Jasmines for tourists. Heritage policies in Tunisia

The chapter focuses on four cases that have been empirically investigated by the authors over the last ten years. Case studies concern mass tourism destinations supporting some heritage policies or important heritage sites. The attention is focused mainly on Carthage as a nationalist symbol; Djerba, a mass tourism destination characterised by a multi-cultural heritage; Uthina, an ancient Roman colony that provides an interesting insight into the role heritage sites played in Regimes as welfare tools and finally we look at the crisis affecting the traditional pottery sector in Cap Bon, the leading tourist region in Tunisia and particularly in Nabeul. Starting from the cases the chapter shows the role of heritage in incorporating territories into the global tourism market, in developing a national mythological past and provides some suggestions on how heritage strategies can be influenced by the recent revolutionary events in Tunisia.