Nebil Gasmi: “Let’s celebrate the 40th anniversary of Star war with a cinema tour”

Nebil Gasmi is a geomorphologist geographer. He teaches at the Department of Geography of the Faculty of Arts and Humanities of Sousse. He is also President of the Chamber of Development of Tourism Oasien and Saharan (CDTOS), an association which came into existence after January 14, 2011 and which brings together nearly 70 actors in the field of tourism in Djerid. Through this grouping, the operators think that they can become force of proposals and obtain conclusive results on the development of their sector. The Association is involved in many areas such as the improvement of tourism products, tourist development, events and so on. Nebil Gasmi is re-elected to the head of the CDTOS Executive Board, which consists of 8 members. He makes 1001Tunisia the record of almost three years of engagement on the ground and presents the new project on which the association works; The first cinematographic circuit of Tunisia. Interview. By Amel DJAIT
1001tunisie: CDTOS is linked in the memories to “Save Mos Espa”. What assessment do you make of the operation of the rescue of the site of Nefta with hindsight?

Nebil Gasmi: Absolutely. This operation is one of the actions of the first year of activities of the CDTOS. It is a beautiful experience and a beautiful memory. We learned how to mobilize for action and what to do to achieve successful results. At that time, we sensitized and worked with the State, especially the Ministry of Tourism.

On this occasion, I would like to thank Ambassador Amel Karboul, Minister of Tourism in 2014, who has joined us. For this operation we have mandated a communication box which has accompanied us in order to mobilize public opinion and ensure the successful realization of this action which consisted in a project on two phases: The desensability of the site of “star war” And its restoration.

From this we can draw two lessons: That the Public / Private Partnership can work. In any case, you proved it by this operation! The second teaching would be that the CDTOS very likely caught the star war virus?

That is true ! The state / private synergy is possible and we have demonstrated it! As for the virus, it also exists and we caught it! I discovered with the club fans of “star war” that Tunisia conceals a true heritage of this saga. Tunisia has the largest number of sites where the film of this saga has been shot most around the world. It is also the only country where Gorges Lucas has kept the scenes and sets shooting. You should also know that Tunisia is the first country where this saga was filmed. I confess that I continue to be amazed by all this heritage. These are absolutely and undeniably vestiges of our cultural heritage.

Critics of this approach say that resources are not very numerous and available in these difficult times. Some believe that it would be better to protect and mobilize for more noble, ancient and important remains. What do you answer this type of reasoning?

Tunisia has an enormous heritage at all levels; Landscaping, natural, archaeological history … AND also has a heritage and a real cinematographic potential. This does not exclude this. I wonder and loudly today if we do not have to adapt to current trends?

I give you just one figure to help you think with the CDTOS. The number of fans of “star war” exceeds more than 70 million fans worldwide. In Tunisia, we try to maximize the value of our resources and we judged that it is interesting and lucrative for the region, at least to value this site and better yet, to take care of the cinematographic heritage on the whole of the region.
So with this heritage that you want to protect and exploit, you have obtained a new financing of a call for project with the GIZ. You want to do tourism with the cinematographic heritage. In concrete terms, what is the project?

We have undertaken this operation in the natural logic of the action “Save Mos Espa”. With this project, and after the protection and restoration of the site, we move on to the site enhancement phase. It is time to create value from this potential. Our choice is to do this by linking tourism to cinema. It is through this vector of consolidation of the sector and creation of employment in the region that we are working.

How? What is the project?

By the creation of the first cinematographic circuit in Tunisia. We will design some of the itineraries around the saga. We will set up tourism products and improve our offer by introducing new technology on sites, improving services, signage, content …

We aim to create 10 direct jobs (cleaning, surveillance, maintenance …) and 3 times more indirect jobs, including the creation of income for local guides and drivers who will be trained on good manners, Services, languages, assets of the region ….

There will also be another impact for women artisans in the region such as Hezoua, Nefta, etc. We are now integrating their products into the world of “star war” and are working to develop a dedicated line with an integration of the characters, contents, themes of the series with traditional know-how.

How many tourists go through the Nefta site daily?

They fill the equivalent of 150 cars 4x4x that come per day on average, about 600 to 800 people. In the beautiful years, the site received more than 400 4×4 cars, or about 1800 people. But the real questions that arise are mainly for what added value? What expenses for tourists? What services? What level of satisfaction? …

When are we going to see the first services of this circuit?

We are planning a big operation for the month of May 2017, on the occasion of the International Day of Fans of “star war” on May 4th. “Star war” celebrates this year its 40 years and we are working on a great program! We reserve you full of surprises!