Tunisia, the creative culinary destination for new travelers in search of authentic experiences!

The Culinary Road of Tunisia: a new co-creative tourism offer that invites travelers to discover Tunisia’s culinary heritage through creative experiences, based around six flagship products.

Tunisia has everything it takes to seduce travelers in search of authentic, human cultural experiences.

This project, spearheaded by the GIZ* and managed by the Creative Tourism Network®, aims to highlight the richness of Tunisia’s culinary heritage from every angle – human, cultural, artistic and creative – through tourism that meets the criteria of quality and authenticity.

This route will offer tourists the chance to discover the country through its flagship products, inviting them to explore an ancestral culinary heritage that combines immersion and taste experience.

In consultation with the working group made up of representatives from the various trades involved in the theme, namely: the Ministry of Tourism and Handicrafts, the Tunisian National Tourist Office, the Tunisian Association of Culinary Art Professionals, the General Directorate of Organic Agriculture and the Tunisian Federation of Tourist Restaurants, the following products and regions were chosen: “Le Fromage du Nord-Ouest”, “La Harissa du Cap Bon”, “L’Huile d’olive du Centre et du Dahar”, “le Vin du Nord”, “les Dattes du Sud-ouest” and “le Poulpe de Kerkennah”.

In addition to promoting new tourist attractions, the Culinary Route offers itself as a model of virtuous tourism, satisfying a large number of the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations Agenda 2030, particularly in terms of respect for natural, economic and social ecosystems, by converting culinary know-how into new drivers of attractiveness and inclusion for territories.

In fact, one of the added values of this project lies in its participative and inclusive approach with producers, farmers, winemakers, craftsmen and restaurateurs in geographical areas linked to the breadth of products offered by the terroirs concerned, and will not be limited to regional borders.

La Route Culinaire invites local players in Tunisia’s agricultural, cultural and tourism sectors to take part in this collaborative project, benefiting from enhanced visibility, training and advice, as well as exchanges of best practices with international experts and entrepreneurs.

The aim of the Culinary Route is to promote sustainable economic development by diversifying the tourist offer and creating employment opportunities, while optimizing existing resources, whether natural, cultural or human.

Harissa is a clear example. Recognized as an Intangible Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO last December, it will be at the heart of the experiences designed by professionals from the Cap Bon region, as part of the training provided by international experts taking part in the program. Tourists will be able to discover not only the flavours, but also the know-how, by taking part in the production themselves. A model that will be adapted to the 6 culinary regions defined above.

Through a range of experiences designed for the most diverse audiences – from the student traveler, to Premium visitors, to new traveler profiles – the Culinary Route will offer a differentiating element that will position Tunisia among the most sought-after Mediterranean destinations for quality tourism spread over every month of the year.

Follow-up actions will focus on developing new culinary experiences, enhancing existing offerings, showcasing products and building the capacity of tourism operators. These activities will be supported by the implementation of a communications and marketing strategy that will ensure the promotion of the culinary route and its visibility in outbound markets.

This initiative is supported by the “Promotion of Sustainable Tourism” project – a joint initiative of the European Union’s “Tounes Wijhetouna” program and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), implemented by GIZ in partnership with the Ministry of Tourism. In addition to the Culinary Route, the GIZ has launched the Cinematographic Route in 2022, designed to promote the filming locations of famous cinematographic works.

The presentation of the Culinary Route at FITUR will take place in Pavilion 6 on the Tunisian stand nº6E06.