Site Of Star Wars Movie Shoots Hoping For Tourist Boom
In the Star Wars Movies, the remote, windswept desert scenes where Luke Skywalker was raised, and other important scenes take place could be a tourist boom.
You know it perhaps as Tatouine, but to the residents of rural Tunisia, it's their home. Many of the Star Wars sets still exist in this harsh land near the hamlet of Tatooine--the name even served as an inspiration for the movie name for George Lucas. The town is a stop over for some European tourists, and lately, a jumpoff point for journalists covering the fall of the dictator of nearby Libya--some guy named Ghadaffii. But residents are hoping that with a new government in place, and with the release of the new six movie Star Wars chronology, Tatooine will become a tourist destination for Star Wars fans. Even with the famous movies being shot there, for the desert planet scenes, in the history books Tunisia is still most famous for the epic WWII desert tank battles fought between German General Erwin Rommel and the British army led by General Bernard Montgomery. The famous British "Desert Rats" were so named for their fanatical destruction of the German Army. Tomorrow, Tunisia, and namely Tatooine, hope to be the next great Tourist attraction. Interestingly enough, while the residents are aware of the Star Wars movies, and a to-scale spaceport from Attack Of The Clones sits in the desert nearby (among many still existing movie sites) most of the residents have never seen any of the films.