International Journal of Tourism Cities

Promoting the image of a historic city for sustainable cultural tourism: the case of Tlemcen Capital of
Islamic Culture 2011
Somia Kherbouche, Abdelkader Djedid,
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Somia Kherbouche, Abdelkader Djedid, (2019) "Promoting the image of a historic city for sustainable cultural tourism:
the case of Tlemcen Capital of Islamic Culture 2011", International Journal of Tourism Cities, https://doi.org/10.1108/
IJTC-06-2018-0045
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 Promoting the image of a historic city for
sustainable cultural tourism: the case of
Tlemcen Capital of Islamic Culture 2011

Somia Kherbouche and Abdelkader Djedid

Abstract Somia Kherbouche and

Purpose – Focussing on the event “Tlemcen Capital of Islamic Culture 2011”, the purpose of this paper is to Abdelkader Djedid are both
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examine the changing perception of the city’s image, assess its durability and determine its relationship with based at the Universite Abou
the development of sustainable cultural tourism. Bekr Belkaid Tlemcen,
Design/methodology/approach – This research is tested by an empirical study that combines a qualitative Tlemcen, Algeria.
and a quantitative approach. The qualitative study is based on semi-directive interviews, whereas quantitative
study is based on statistics from the Wilaya Tourism Department.
Findings – The results of this study indicate first of all that the perception of the city’s image by the
inhabitants is not static and that it follows the same process of evolution of the perception of the image by
tourists but in relation to other factors such as awareness and age. The second result shows that the
sustainability of the image must be verified both inside and outside to achieve sustainable cultural tourism.
Originality/value – This study is in line with previous research with another point of view on the city’s image
and another case study which is the historical city of Tlemcen. It serves to examine the evolution of the
perception of the city’s image produced by the event and to assess its sustainability.
Keywords Event, Durability, City image, Sustainable cultural tourism, Tlemcen
Paper type Research paper

Introduction
Today, many historic cities suffer from decay and neglect and have lost their competitive
functions and capacities (Richards and Wilson, 2006; Barrera-Fernández, 2017).
To ensure their sustainability, these cities rely on cultural tourism as an alternative for their
regeneration. This combination of culture and tourism has become one of the most important in
human history (Richards, 2010). Cultural tourism is seen as a major generator of economic
wealth and a source of funding for heritage conservation (Picard and Robinson, 2006; Alvarez,
2010). However, cultural tourism is far from being a simple economic activity; it is a complex and
dynamic phenomenon (Newby, 1994; Salazar, 2012) with positive results and negative
consequences. On one hand, it offers new opportunities and prospects for the economic revival
of historic cities (Ashworth, 1995; McKercher et al., 2005), thus stimulating the preservation of
heritage and the transmission of cultural traditions (Godfre and Clarke, 2000), and, on the other
hand, it can prove to be harmful and negative for these cities ( Jansen-Verbeke, 1998) through
overexploitation, museification, banalisation, etc. (Russo, 2002; Girard and Nijkamp, 2009).
The “tourism/culture” association described by McKercher et al. (2005) as conflict and
Received 11 June 2018
cooperation has been the subject of several studies that deal with the problem. In this sense, the Revised 1 September 2018
development of cultural tourism based on the guiding principles of sustainable development is an 25 September 2018
indispensable strategy for the sustainability of historic cities (UNWTO, 1995). The objective is to 30 September 2018
Accepted 5 October 2018
have a symbiosis between culture and tourism and not to favour commercial values over
© International Tourism Studies
conservation values (Newby, 1994). Association

DOI 10.1108/IJTC-06-2018-0045 Emerald Publishing Limited, ISSN 2056-5607 j INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF TOURISM CITIES
 Indeed, the application of the concept of sustainable tourism development has become a central issue
in the economy of historic cities because it makes it possible to face the challenges of sustainability
and ensure the balance between social cohesion, heritage preservation and economic development
(Butler, 1999; UNWTO, 1995; Salazar, 2012; Ferri and Maturo, 2013; Nasser, 2003).
On the contrary, the development of tourism depends primarily on the attractiveness of the city
and its ability to attract attention, make tourists dream and attract them (Genaille, 2009).
Attractiveness is sometimes presented as synonymous with competitiveness because of
increasing competition between cities as destinations (Cusin and Damon, 2010). It has become
an important concern and an omnipresent notion in tourism policies (Genaille, 2009). For
historic cities, tangible and intangible heritage is an attractive force, an important landmark and
one of the indispensable identity factors for the development of cultural tourism (Brokensha and
Gruldberg, 1992; Simons, 1996; Russo and van der Borg, 2002; Girard and Nijkamp, 2009).
Monuments and the arts, in general, because of their historical, aesthetic and cultural values
give singularity to tourist destinations. In addition to this, gastronomy, traditions, music and
crafts provide more of a driving force for cultural and historical destinations (Cohen,1988;
Ashworth and Tunbridge, 1990; Prentice, 1993; Murphy et al., 2000; Barrera-Fernández et al.,
2017) and present themselves as a source of values including economic values (MacCannell,
1976; Richards and Palmer, 2010).
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Moreover, the attractiveness of the city depends on the image it conveys and the elements
that distinguish it from other cities and shape its character. The image of a city has a direct
impact on its ability to develop tourism. It can be positive and attractive, encouraging the
development of tourism activity, and it can be negative and weak, slowing down its
development (Kotler et al., 1993).
The city’s image, reputation and identity have become assets for the development of cities in a
competitive context (Pasquinelli, 2014). This is a key factor for people who use or want to use the
city, whether they are investors, visitors or residents (Kavaratzis, 2007). As a result, many cities
are working to improve and promote their images (Morgan et al., 2002) through various means,
including events. For historic cities, cultural events and festivals, in particular, are used to highlight
the culture and identity of the place (Liu and Chen, 2007; Arandelovic, 2015). Creating cultural
experiences as attractions has become a key element for improving the images of historic cities
(Barrera-Fernández et al., 2017). However, for some researchers, the effects of cultural events on
historic cities are rather ephemeral and limited, although efforts have been made to sustain post-
event effects (Zhang and Zhao, 2009).
This paper aims to contribute to studies made on the image of the city, in general, and the
promotion of the image through events, in particular, by reporting the experience of the city of
Tlemcen, a historic city of North West Algeria that saw its image changed through an event it
hosted in 2011 “Tlemcen Capital of Islamic Culture”. The case study will consider the city not only
as a destination perceived from the outside but also as an inhabited city perceived from the
inside. The objective is to assess the sustainability of the image of the city produced by the event
both inside and outside the city and to see its relationship with sustainable cultural tourism.
To do this, the work is organised into three essential parts, a theoretical part on the image of the
city through literature reviews to determine the elements that make up this image and strategies
for its promotion. The second part is a case study of the city of Tlemcen through a feedback on
the event Tlemcen capital of Islamic Culture 2011, and the third part is a discussion of the results
to verify the evolution of the perception of the image and assess its sustainability.

Literature review
City image
The city image is one of the most widespread subjects in the field of tourism studies, given its
importance ( Jansson, 2003). It has been treated mainly as a destination by assessing visitor’s
perception (Chon, 1990), and very little as an image perceived by non-visitors (Stylidis and
Cherifi, 2018).

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 In literature reviews, image is defined as the sum of the total impressions that consumers receive
from many sources (Herzog, 1963). For Lynch (1960), it is a mental image structured from a series
of elements that appear when the name of the city is mentioned (landmarks, neighbourhoods,
knots, paths and walls). In the 1970s, the notion of the image of the city was defined as the unity
that is established between what the city symbolically means and the elements that compose it
physically (Ledrut, 1973). This image is not only visual, but possibly this visual image also is
secondary to another image related to symbolism (Capel, 1975).
In the 1990s and 2000s, the image is seen as the sum of beliefs, ideas and impressions that
connect many people to a city (Kotler et al., 1993; Avraham, 2004; Jansson, 2003; Brandt and
de Mortanges, 2011). It is a mental representation and a network of meaning stored in the
memory of individuals (Ger, 1991).
The image is, therefore, figurative or affective and refers to an individual or group of individuals
( Jenkins, 1999).
It follows from these definitions that the perception of the image of the city is based on two types
of essential components: cognitive and affective (Anholt, 2006):
1. the cognitive image is linked to the knowledge and attributes of the city; and
2. the affective image denotes people’s feelings towards the city.
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There is a third component to the image when talking about the city as a tourist destination:
1. the conative image based on intentions to visit or revisit the city (Manyiwa et al., 2018; Stylidis
and Cherifi, 2018).
Indeed, the image as it is composed (cognitive and affective) refers to two categories: an image
transmitted and an image received:
1. The image emitted is a transmitted image, it depends on the agents who take part in its
formation that is to say emission tools (media, advertising, photographs, events, etc.)
(Gartner, 1994). Image formation factors play a very important role in the perception of the
city and the quality of the transmitted image. Indeed, this image can be organic (informal)
linked to non-commercial sources of information (media, personal reading, etc.) (Busby
et al., 2013); it can be an induced image in the case of a commercial promotion through
formal sources such as films, advertisements, travel agencies, etc. or it can be complex or
autonomous via direct experiences and personal travel (Ateljevic, 2001; Gartner, 1989).
2. The received image is an image related to the perception and interpretation of the emitted
image. In this category, there are two types of image receivers: indoor receivers, city residents
(inhabitants or others), and outdoor receivers, coming from outside the city (tourists).
It is also important to say that the image received by a visitor is not final because there is a process
of image formation (before, during and after) in relation to the “visit” factor (Tasci et al., 2007).
The question that can be asked here is:
RQ1. Does the perception of the city image follow the same evolution process (before, during and
after) for the inhabitant as for the tourist and in relation to what factors will this image evolve?

Promoting the image of a historic city: when the cultural event is at the heart of promotion
Nowadays, the city is considered a product to be developed and promoted to attract tourists,
investors and sometimes even new residents (Ashworth and Voogd, 1988). Image promotion has
become essential to identify, distinguish and highlight the assets of each city (Paddison, 1993; Cai,
2002). The concept is broad and implies several actions including making, creation, design, change,
etc., of the image of the city (Genaille, 2009). This image cannot be the same everywhere because
each city is different from the other, and this difference is due to the historical, cultural, social, economic
context, etc. The image changes its theme according to the specificities and vocation of each city.
Promotion has two fundamental objectives: the first is to make the inhabitants appreciate the city
from the inside, that is, to create an image through which the inhabitants can identify themselves
and acquire a sense of belonging (Capel, 1975; Marcotte and Bourdeau, 2010). The second

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF TOURISM CITIES

 objective is to make it known outside (Xie and Lee, 2013) to attract tourists and investors.
Therefore, it is important to ask two essential questions before promoting (André, 1987):
1. what target do we want to reach? (Visitors, residents, investors, etc.); and
2. what message do we want to convey? (Awareness, economic power, attraction, etc.).
The promotion of the city’s image rests on two major axes: mediation and events (Russo and
van der Borg, 2002). Mediation has an advertising character and makes use of tools (displays,
catalogues, website, social networks, video, etc.) that are renewed with the development of
information and communication technology. Events, on the contrary, consist in organising or
participating in cultural, sporting, political or other events (Getz, 2008). It is a good way to make
the city shine from inside and outside and, in this way, to convey a considerable image capital
(Egbaji, 2007), attract investors and legitimise the city locally (Getz and Page, 2015; Getz, 2015).
Cultural events in particular have emerged as a means of improving the image of historic cities
(Richards and Wilson, 2004; Agbabiaka, 2016). These events have a series of impacts on the
cities where they take place (Cusin and Damon, 2010) adding life to the city and giving
citizens renewed pride in their city (Getz, 1991; Roche, 1994; Richards and Wilson, 2004;
Barrera-Fernández et al., 2017).
Gravari-Barbas and Veschambre (2005) defined the event as a parenthesis of the life of a city.
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Planned events are spatio-temporal phenomena (Getz, 2007), limited in time and space. This
observation has led actors in historic cities to seek to perpetuate the effects of cultural events
because the success of an event is measured in the long term (Gravari-Barbas and Jacquot, 2007).
The question here is:
RQ2. Is city image produced by cultural events durable or ephemeral and what is the impact of
this durability on the development of sustainable cultural tourism? (The word durability in
the question is synonymous with continuity).

Looking back on the experience of the city of Tlemcen

Presentation of the city of Tlemcen
Tlemcen, formerly called “the pearl of the Maghreb” or “the African grenade” (Abadie, 1994),
represents one of the oldest cities of the Algerian urban network and the most representative of the
Arab-Muslim architectural heritage of Algeria (Sari, 2006), although it was originally of Roman
creation (Marçais and Marçais, 1903, p. 11). It owes its originality to the passage of several
dynasties among others Idrisside, Almoravide, Almohade, Zianide and Merinide. This crossroads of
civilisations have marked the history of the city, especially on both cultural and religious levels, and
have contributed to its cultural influence not only on a local scale but also on a regional scale, which
enabled it to obtain the title of “Capital of Central Maghreb” in the Middle Ages (Marçais, 2003, p.16).
The history of Tlemcen is witnessed by the remains of a remarkable architectural specificity,
architectural jewels that represent a significant tangible heritage and that give a whole symbolic
meaning to the city. The intangible heritage is also present in force through the traditions and
customs of the city. This cultural wealth motivated the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organisation to designate Tlemcen to host the event “Tlemcen Capital of Islamic Culture 2011”.
The celebration of culture is at the centre of a growing number of events, such as the World
Culture Day, Cultural Olympiad, Capital of Culture with its European, British and American
versions (Barrera-Fernández et al., 2017), or Arab and Islamic, etc.
The principle of the organisation of cultural capitals is to enable host cities to open up to the
outside world, highlight their potential and promote their cultural image (ISESCO, 2011).

Tlemcen Capital of Islamic Culture 2011

To prepare for the event, the city of Tlemcen benefited from a considerable budget allowing
the realisation of several projects between new achievements, embellishment of the city,

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF TOURISM CITIES

 and interventions on the built heritage through restoration works (Plate 1), rehabilitation
and reconversions.
The city of Tlemcen also recorded an operation to return the royal palace of El Mechouar from
archaeological excavations. The palace dating from the Zianid period (thirteenth century) (Plate 2)
became one of the favourite destinations for tourists visiting Tlemcen.
In 2011, the city of Tlemcen added two other museums to its account in addition to the city’s
museum of archaeology, a museum of manuscripts and a museum of art and history of the city.
These museums are the result of the respective conversion of an ancient Almoravid mosque
dating from the twelfth century and an ancient town hall dating from the ninth century.

Plate 1 The Minaret of El Mansourah (Merinid and Zianid thirteenth century) during and after
its restoration
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Source: Authors

Plate 2 Royal palace of El machouar after its restitution

Source: Authors

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF TOURISM CITIES

 Three cultural projects were also created thanks to the event: a centre for Andalusian studies, a
palace of culture and an exhibition palace.
The city of Tlemcen has also grown in terms of accommodation infrastructure, restaurants and
shops. According to the statistics of the wilaya tourism department, this city has grown from a
capacity of 600 beds in 2010 to a capacity of 1,146 in 2011.
To facilitate visits to tourists, the Office of Management and Exploitation of Cultural Property in
collaboration with the Direction of Culture have organised a tourist tour with the theme: the
historic sites and monuments of the medina of Tlemcen.
In addition to what has been mentioned as achievements, festivals, seminars and exhibitions on
tangible and intangible heritage as well as the publication and republication of several books on
the city of Tlemcen were part of the programme of the event.

Methods
This study attempts to develop two lines of thoughts: the evolution of the perception of the city’s
image of Tlemcen produced by the event and the evaluation of its sustainability. The objective is
twofold. The first is to synthesise the factors involved in the evolution of the perception of the city’s
image on both the internal and external levels of the city, and the second is to propose on the
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basis of previous work and the experience of the city of Tlemcen the relationship between the
perception of the city’s image, the durability of the image and the development of sustainable
cultural tourism.
This relationship is tested by an empirical study that combines a qualitative and a quantitative
approach. Nevertheless, this approach allows us to deduce some results that may help the
development of sustainable cultural tourism in historic cities.
The qualitative study is based on semi-directive interviews, and quantitative study is based on
statistics from the Wilaya Tourism Department.
For the first part, the verification of the evolution of the perception of the city’s image of Tlemcen
called for the interview, which seemed the most logical way to interact with tourists and
inhabitants and to understand through their responses and reactions not only cognitive but also
affective perceptions of the image.
On the internal side, the category interviewed composed of a panel of three groups (7–17, 18–50
and 50–70 year old), each age category composed of 50 people, and, in total, 150 people were
interviewed. The sampling method used is a non-probabilistic quota method (Pires, 1997) with age
as the factor and the sample size (n) is taken with respect to Cochran’s formula (Bartlett et al., 2001):

n ¼ ðtÞ2  ðpÞðqÞ=d2 ;

where t is a confidence level according to the normal law for a 95% confidence level, t ¼ 1.96; p is
the estimated proportion of the population (when unknown, p ¼ 0.5 is used); q ¼ 1−p; d is a margin
of error tolerated which in this case is 8 per cent.
Thus, the n can be calculated as follows:

n ¼ ð1:96Þ2  ð0:5Þð10:5Þ=ð0:08Þ2 ;
n  150:
The interview was semi-directive and focused on two main points:
1. Knowledge of the built heritage of the city of Tlemcen and its historical and economic
importance: in order to assess the degree of awareness of the inhabitants towards their
heritage as a product to be valued in a historic city.
2. Change of the image of the city: this information is important to understand if the image perceived
by the inhabitants of the city of Tlemcen has changed, evolved or remained stable after the event.
On the external side, it is clear that the evaluation of the perception of the image of the city can be
evaluated using statistics of the number of tourists. However, what is also important to know are

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF TOURISM CITIES

 the reasons why these tourists visited Tlemcen. To do this, the same sampling method was used
(non-probabilistic by quota) but in relation to the “type of tourists”. To this aim, 100 tourists were
interviewed, including 50 nationals and 50 foreigners. The interview with this category was semi-
directive and focused on the following questions:
■ What are your reasons for visiting Tlemcen?
■ Is this your first visit?
■ How did you find the city?
The second question of this study concerns the evaluation of the durability of the image produced
by the event inside and outside the city of Tlemcen.
This part has two components: the assessment of the durability of the city’s image at the internal
level, which uses two indicators, ownership and awareness of the importance of the city as an
economic product and the investment of the inhabitants in the city.
The second part is the evaluation of the durability of the image on the external level. To do this, we
called upon a theory developed by Butler (1980). It is the life cycle theory of a tourist destination
that uses the number of tourists as an indicator. The concept uses the curve to show the increase
or decrease in the attractiveness of the tourist place. Foreign investment in the city is another
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indicator that will also be considered given its importance in assessing the attractiveness of cities
(Paddison, 1993; Richards and Wilson, 2004).
These two indicators are based on statistics from the Tlemcen Wilaya Tourism Department.

Results
Evolution of the perception of the city’s image of Tlemcen
Internally, as an inhabited city. To check the evolution of the perception of the image of the city of
Tlemcen by the inhabitants, the question that was asked to the inhabitants of the city is as follows:
■ Did you know the heritage and precisely the architectural heritage of the city of Tlemcen before
the event? And do you know it now?
The results shown in Figure 1 reveal the following.
For the first age category, most children between 7 and 17 years of age did not know their city’s
heritage before the event. However, the results of the interview show that the figures changed
considerably afterwards, but this change is not due only to the event because, according to the

Figure 1 Knowledge rate on the heritage of the city of Tlemcen (2018)

Before the event After the event

74%
70%
67%
62%

46%

15%

From 7 to 17 years From 18 to 50 years From 50 to 70 years

old old old
Source: Authors

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF TOURISM CITIES

 children, the discovery of heritage took place through the school, since in 2012, heritage was
integrated into the school curricula from the second primary year onwards. School walks in
historical sites and guided visits to museums are also the main factors of this change.
For the age category of 18–50 years, the knowledge rate is quite high compared to children, the
interview revealed that the increase in the knowledge rate is due, on one hand, to the event that
highlighted heritage and, on the other hand, due to the promotion of the image through the media
and especially the social media.
The interview with the third category was surprising because it turned out that a large part of the
people interviewed knew the heritage of the city perfectly and could even tell the story of each
monument and the traditions and customs that characterise the city. According to these inha-
bitants, this knowledge about heritage is not due to the event but due to the reading, accounts
and stories told by their parents and grandparents.
For the same panel, a second question was asked concerning the change of the city:
■ Did the city change after the event Tlemcen capital of Islamic culture?
The answer to this question was categorical for all the inhabitants, old and young, a big “YES”. To
understand the perception of this change, another question was asked:
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■ How did the city become after the event?

In response to this question, the interview brought out three words that often came up: beautiful,
dynamic and attractive:
■ the beauty was explained by the cleanliness, the greenery and the lighting;
■ the dynamism was explained by the revitalisation of the city and the opening of several
restaurants and shops; and
■ the attractiveness was justified by the number of tourists who come to visit the city.
The inhabitants spoke mainly of national tourists coming from the different corners of Algeria
during the school holidays.
The words used to describe the city varied according to the age category interviewed. Figure 2
shows that children aged 7–17 years used the word “beautiful” to describe the new city. For the
second and third categories, the description included in some cases the three words “beautiful,
dynamic and attractive” with different rates.
Externally, as a destination. On the external side, the evolution of the perception of the city’s image
by tourists, on one hand, was measured by an indicator that seems logical: the number of tourists.

Figure 2 Description of the city of Tlemcen after the event (2018)

90%
Beautiful
80%
Dynamic
70%
Attractive
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
From 7 to 17 years From 18 to 50 years From 50 to 70 years
old old old
Source: Authors

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF TOURISM CITIES

 The statistics indicated in Figure 3 show that there is an evolution in the perception of the image of
the city during the event and even after, despite the fact that the number of national tourists
remains much higher than that of foreign tourists.
On the other hand, an interview was conducted with foreign and national tourists to better under-
stand the causes and reasons for their visits. The results summarised in Table I revealed the following.
For the first question (What were your reasons for visiting the city of Tlemcen?), it turned out that
the motivations are multiple and vary among national tourists and foreigners. More than
50 per cent of the national visitors visited the city for tourist reasons as for foreigners, their
motivations were essentially based on work.
The results of the second question (Is this your first visit?) show that more than half of the national
tourists knew Tlemcen and considered it as a privileged destination for school holidays. The
foreign tourists did not know the city and for them it is a first visit.
The third question consists in evaluating the perception of the image of the city of Tlemcen by tourists
after the visit. The answers to the question: How did you find the city? brought out factors of common
attraction between the two categories of tourists. It is about beauty, cleanliness, calm, safety,
welcoming the inhabitants, gastronomy, museums and accommodation facilities as well as the beauty
of historical and natural sites. These factors often come up in works that deal with the perception of the
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image of destination and constitute an evidence for the development of cultural tourism.

Durability of the image of the city of Tlemcen

Internally, as an inhabited city. The assessment of the durability of the image of the city of Tlemcen
produced by the event “Capital of Islamic Culture 2011” internally was measured by two
indicators: awareness of the city’s heritage and investment of inhabitants in the city.
The first indicator was verified through the interview developed for the verification of the evolution
of the perception of the image of the city of Tlemcen. The results of this interview (Figure 1) show

Figure 3 Evolution of the number of tourists in Tlemcen

National tourists Foreign tourists

220,556
204,519 209,760

178,297
156,300 154,800
139,380 136,630 136,581 144,980
125,995 123,499 128,009 127,137 128,406
119,980
104,737

1,675 1,672 1,889 2,211 3,307 3,401 2,117 3,280 3,503 3,542 3,800 5,972 7,789 7,476 5,708 4,570 4,230

2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017

Source: Tlemcen Wilaya Tourism and Handicraft Department

Table I Results of the interview with tourists

Questions for tourists National tourists Foreign tourists

What are the reasons for Work, trade, tourism and inviting friends Work, seminars and meetings and invitation of friends
your visit to Tlemcen?
Is this your first visit? 70% (35/50 people) answered no 94% (47/50 people) answered yes
How did you find the city? Beautiful, clean, quiet, secure, interesting Beautiful, rich and diverse heritage, good food, friendly people,
historical sites, friendly and welcoming people interesting museums and quality accommodation facilities
Source: Authors

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF TOURISM CITIES

 that there has been considerable awareness of heritage and its importance as an identity factor
and product to be valued economically.
For the second indicator, after 2011, the city recorded an increase in investments in the hotel
sector, where it increased from a capacity of 1,146 beds in 2011 to 1,605 in 2017, of which 1,107
were private and belonged to the inhabitants of the city (Figure 4).
In addition, in 2017, a resident took the initiative to invest in the city by providing tourists with
tourist buses that make guided tours of all the city’s historical and natural sites.
Externally, as a destination. Butler’s (1980) theory on the life cycle of a destination revealed the
following results (Figure 5):
■ Before 2011: the number of foreign tourists increased from 1,675 in 2001 to 3,542 in 2010,
whereas national tourism did not show a remarkable evolution.
■ During 2011: the number of foreign and domestic tourists remained more or less stable.
■ After 2011: the number of tourists increased remarkably to reach its peak in 2013. After 2013,
the number began to gradually decrease and stabilised in 2016.

Figure 4 Investment evolution in the hotel sector in Tlemcen

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1,800
1,605
1,600
1,424
1,400 1,280
1,146 1,465
1,200 1,354

1,000 1,195

800

600 600

400

200
Number of beds
0
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
Source: Tourism Department of the Wilaya of Tlemcen

Figure 5 Curves of the evolution of the number of national and foreign tourists in Tlemcen

National tourists
Foreign tourists

2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018
Source: Tourism Department of the Wilaya of Tlemcen

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF TOURISM CITIES

 The second external evaluation indicator is foreign investment in the city. The investment was
recorded in the hotel sector where two large hotels with a capacity of 498 beds were built in
2011. After 2011, no investment has been recorded in the city (Figure 6).
Cultural projects also continued after 2011. In 2012, for example, there was the creation of an
Algerian costume museum and the classification of the Tlemcenian wedding dress “chedda
tlemcenia” as intangible heritage of humanity.
It is also important to note that the cultural institutions created for the event did not cease to
function. On the contrary, they host more and more cultural and scientific activities and events
such as the Andalusian music festival (intangible heritage of the city), meetings and seminars, film
projections and many other activities.

Conclusion and discussion

Through the case of the historic city of Tlemcen, this work is presented as an impact study of the
event “Tlemcen Capital of Islamic Culture 2011” on the image of the city and its relationship with
the development of sustainable cultural tourism.
The study focused on two essential points: the evolution of the perception of the city’s image and
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the evaluation of its durability.

For the first point, it was a question of studying the evolution of the perception of the city’s image of
Tlemcen on the internal and external levels. On the internal level, it turned out that the image of the
city perceived by the inhabitants is part of the same process of evolution of the perception of the
image by the tourists (before, during and after) but in relation to other factors (awareness and age).
Awareness is raised not only by promotion through events but also through learning at school and
mediation through various means. The study also revealed that the perception of the image of the
city by the inhabitants depends on another factor to be taken into consideration during promotion.
It is the age category. Cognitive and emotional images are not presented in the same way in
children as in adults. The attributes and description of the city change and develop with age. For
this reason, it would be appropriate at events to devote diversified and dedicated programmes to all
age groups, including children because today’s children are tomorrow’s decision makers.
Externally, statistics indicate that Tlemcen has recorded a higher number of tourists in recent
years (2011–2017) than in previous years. In terms of number of visitors, there has been
considerable growth after 2011, reaching a maximum of 220,556 national tourists and 7,789
foreigners in 2013. However, the interview with visitors, especially foreigners, revealed that

Figure 6 Evolution of foreign investment in Tlemcen

600
498 498
500

400

300

200

100

0 Number of beds
0
Before 2011 In 2011 After 2011
Source: Tourism Department of the Wilaya of
Tlemcen

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF TOURISM CITIES

 tourism was not the only reason for their visits and that they came, especially, for professional
reasons. As for nationals, they come to spend holidays with family or friends.
The interview also highlighted elements that attract tourists to the city, such as the reception of
the inhabitants of the city of Tlemcen, which in one way or another affects the perception of the
city’s image externally (Echtner and Ritchie, 1991; Gallarza et al., 2002).
In fact, although visits are not always made for tourist reasons, the event “Tlemcen Capital of
Islamic Culture” has made available to visitors all the amenities and cognitive attributes that can
only encourage a new visit with a tourist motive (conative perception).
What we can conclude from the question of the evolution of the city’s image is that it is important
to watch over the promotion of the image outside to attract tourists and investors and that it is
also important not to neglect the internal image perceived by the inhabitants who are considered
to be part of the city’s image. The awareness and involvement of the inhabitants are important
factors to take into consideration when promoting the image of the city.
For the second point, it was a question of studying the durability of the city’s image of Tlemcen
produced by the event.
The results of this part show that the durability of the city’s image can be measured both internally
and externally against indicators that are not always easy to verify, such as awareness and
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ownership of the city by the inhabitants.

Indeed, the results show that the image produced by the event is rather durable internally. The
awareness of the importance of the city as a tourist product, the satisfaction of the inhabitants
and the pride to live in their city are remarkable. The inhabitants are more involved in promoting
the city’s image through social media and association initiatives and support cultural and tourist
projects launched by the state. The continuity of cultural activities and projects is also positive
indicators that confirm the durability of this internal image.
Externally, the city has experienced in recent years a revitalisation of the tourism sector. The event
made the city of Tlemcen known not only outside the country but also inside and it became one of
the preferred destinations of Algerians.
In addition, the Butler curve over the life cycle of the destination Tlemcen has shown that the flow
of tourists visiting the city has grown considerably since 2011. The curve continued to increase
until 2013 and then decreased again and remained more or less stable in 2017. The observation,
thus, reveals that the image produced by the event is not durable and that it is rather ephemeral
on the external level.
Analysis of the results of both parts indicates that the promotion of sustainable cultural tourism
in historic cities is based on the durability of the image of the city both internally and externally.
This is a vicious circle of tourism development in historic cities as described by Russo (2002).
This vicious circle requires a link between causes and facts. In the case of the city of Tlemcen,
there is a vicious circle with two directions between social cohesion, economic development
and heritage preservation (Figure 7). This circle has two starting points that are distinct but
complementary: social cohesion, which is based on the perception of the city’s image by the
inhabitants (internal), and economic development, which depends on the perception of the city’
image by tourists (external).
Indeed, social cohesion when taken as a starting point affects the development of sustainable
cultural tourism. The involvement of the inhabitants, the emotional attachment and pride of
belonging to a city encourage private and public initiatives for the preservation of the heritage that
is an attraction for historic cities and promotes tourism development. The latter, makes it possible
to revitalise the city, offer direct and indirect employment and improve the lives of the inhabitants,
which once again strengthen their sense of belonging to the city.
In the opposite direction, the development of cultural tourism as a starting point creates
financial resources for heritage preservation and raises the awareness of the inhabitants
towards their city as a product with identity and economic values, which encourages them to
invest in the tourism sector.

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF TOURISM CITIES

 Figure 7 Relationship between the durability of the city’s image and sustainable cultural
tourism

Awareness

Internal Durability of Social:

the city’s Image social cohesion

Identity, pride Job opportunities

and belonging

Sustainable cultural
Involvement
tourism Investment

Resource creation
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Environmental:
Economic:
preservation
tourism development
heritage
Attractiveness

Promotion External durability of

the city’s image

Source: Authors

The experience of the city of Tlemcen illustrates that the Tlemcen event, “Capital of Islamic
Culture”, was the bearer of projects that made the city shine especially on the internal level. The
study also shows that the promotion of the city’s image combined with events alone is not
durable. The image of a destination is like a living being, so in order for it to develop, it has to be
nourished abundantly by events, mediation, intervention, etc.

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 Further reading
Chen, C.C., Chen, Y.T. and Chen, M.C. (2007), “An aging theory for event life-cycle modeling”,
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Corresponding author
Somia Kherbouche can be contacted at: lasoumi989@hotmail.com
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