Internal labour migration is a significant phenomenon in Tunisia. It is directly linked to the socio-economic disparities between lagging regions of the interior and the dynamic coastal regions. The interior regions have high unemployment and poverty levels (around 30 per cent), with lower standards of living and limited access to basic services and quality infrastructure.

Many young migrants from Tunisian secondary cities are attracted to the large metropolitan areas in search of employment and better opportunities. Secondary cities are in turn receiving rural migrants for the same reasons. Local authorities are trying to find ways to integrate them economically, socially, and culturally, while at the same time retaining entrepreneurial residents who would otherwise migrate to the primary cities.

Cities Alliance supported tourism initiatives in Jendouba and Kairouan, with the goal of stimulating job creation. We focused on integrating migrants who had moved from rural to urban areas. In collaboration with the National Office for Tourism and with the participation of young entrepreneurs, new tourism circuits bridging the urban-rural divide were designed.