The new Wonders of the World

The present work is a Master 1 thesis, presented in 2004 in the framework of a conference on development studies and research given by Mr. Luis Martinez, a political scientist and specialist of the Maghreb and the Middle East, research director at CERI since 2005. The objective of this paper is to demonstrate that the enhancement of a country's cultural and architectural heritage, particularly through tourism, promotes the success of development strategies. On the one hand, the reappropriation by the inhabitants of their traditions and sites of their collective imagination, allows an endogenous development, not imposed from outside. On the other hand, tourism provides income and thus boosts the economy of a country. Three models are examined: Tunisia, Yemen and Afghanistan.