Saturday, February 5, 2011

A Look At What Tunisia Offers Tourists

By Mark Walters

It is no secret that places that become popular with tourists are popular because of trends. When famous celebrities are photographed soaking up the sun or sitting on a yacht in a particular area, that area immediately gains a massive leap in popularity and tourists flock to the latest fashionable holiday spot. The question is, why? Why do the celebrities go to that particular area? What is it about the area that draws people in to begin with?

There are many destinations that are always popular with tourists due to their ability to offer the best of one or two factors - the south of France, Spain, the Mediterranean islands and Switzerland's mountainous ski slopes to name but a few. However, some places are popular due to their ability to combine a number of factors, plus a certain mystical appeal. Tunisia is such a place, but what is it specifically about Tunisia that makes it so special?

Tunisia is the most northerly country in the continent of Africa and sits on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, close to Sicily. With a population of nearly ten and a half million people it is certainly not the most populated of African countries, though it can boast an extremely high relative percentage of coastline, with a total of approximately eight hundred and ten miles. Tunisia is bordered by Libya to the south-east and Algeria, to the west.

Some might say that Tunisia's coastline is its best asset, but that opinion is subjective and although it offers some of the best beaches in the Mediterranean sea, there is a lot more to Tunisia than sand. If it is a good beach you are looking for, the most popular in Tunisia is Port el-Kantaoui, with Hammamet beach coming a close second. Port el-Kantaoui is a tourist complex that was actually first modeled on the French town of Port Grimaud.

One of the biggest tourist pullers in Tunisia is the fact that some of the highest grossing films of the last fifty years have been filmed there. Two Star Wars films, an Indiana Jones movie, and the English Patient were all filmed on location in Tunisia. Finding the filming locations may be a little trickier than you imagine, though there is sufficient information available on the internet to help guide you. One particular location that will not be hard to find is the Sidi Driss Star Wars Hotel in Matmata. This hotel was used as a location in the film Star Wars: A New Hope, which was filmed in 1976.

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