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Tunisia is working against the clock to salvage its 2014 tourist season after three turbulent years, by revamping the country's image - with the help of online media and a few Star Wars characters.
"To change a country from one that is relatively inexpensive to a top-end tourist destination will take 10 or 15 years," said Amel Karboul, Tunisia's new Tourism Minister.
"But to change the image of a country from one that's cheap to one that is 'fun' can be done much more quickly, and that's a priority for us," she said, referring to perceptions of Tunisia as a budget holiday destination.
Video: Watch 'Happy (We are from Tatooine)'

The North African country hopes to welcome seven million tourists this year, a slight increase on the 6.9 million who visited in 2010 before the revolution that ousted a decades-old dictatorship and unleashed outbreaks of Islamist violence that damaged Tunisia's reputation.
The number of tourists fell to just 4.7 million in 2011, and has only recovered slowly, affecting the estimated 400,000 people working in the key sector.
To reverse this trend, the ministry decided to exploit the desert settings used for many scenes in the Star Wars films, in a Tunisian version of the music video hit Happy by US star Pharrell Williams, replicated on YouTube by people around the world dancing to the tune.
Happy (We are from Tatooine), commissioned by the ministry, features a range of characters from Star Wars dancing in and around the city of Tataouine, including the droids R2D2 and C3PO, and Darth Vader.

The southern desert city gave its name to the fictional home planet of Anakin and Luke Skywalker - key figures in the cult film series.
The Star Wars Tunisia edition of the Pharrell Williams video has already received nearly 1.5 million hits.
Conventional advertising campaigns "are extremely expensive and you're not sure of their impact; it's very long term. Tunisia has only limited means", explained Karboul, whose government has a very short-term mandate.
Appointed in late January to end months of political uncertainty, it is due to step down after elections held by the end of this year.

Before the revolution, Tunisia managed to project an image of itself as an attractive holiday destination in the southern Mediterranean, concealing the ruthlessness of the regime in power that was finally overthrown in the first Arab Spring uprising in 2011.
Many had hoped to see tourism rebound last year, but those hopes were dashed with the separate assassinations of two secular politicians in attacks that sparked political upheaval and fears of further jihadist violence.
Even so, tourism receipts rose by a modest 1.7 per cent to 3.23 billion dinars (HK$16.3 billion) from 2012, although they were 8.3 per cent off the figure from 2010.
Karboul said the country "is already safer", adding that growth was recovering in Europe, Tunisia's main tourism market.
Karboul acknowledged that Tunisia's image had to reflect realities, and that certain services needed to be improved to boost tourism, such as rubbish collection, which has been repeatedly disrupted by the social protests and strikes since the revolution in 2010.


Star Wars and Pharrell Williams enlisted to help Tunisia win back tourists with image makeover

Scene from a Tourism Ministry video, a version of the much-imitated Happy by US star Pharrell Williams. Image: SCMP Pictures

A still from Happy (We are from Tatooine) shows Star Wars character C3PO dancing. 

Tatooine, the fictional home of Luke Skywalker. Photo: LUCAS FILM LTD & TM/AFP

Supporters of the Islamist Ennahda movement celebrate the first vote that resulted from the "Arab Spring". Photo: Reuters


Scene from a Tourism Ministry video.

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Star Wars connection used to boost tourism amid post-revolution slump
