A whole strategy has been put in place to set up institutions serving as points of reference in the various domains of cultural activity and artistic creation. Among them are the National Dance Center of Borj El Baccouche, the House of Baron d'Erlanger converted into a Center for Arab and Mediterranean Music, the Husseinite Museum (covering the period of the Beys), the Museum of Modern Art, and the National Cultural Center of Tunis.

In addition, the International Cultural Center of Hammamet has been refurbished and transformed into the House of the Mediterranean, specializing mainly in theatrical arts, and the institution of Beit el Hikma was converted into an Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters in order to better contribute to the cultural and intellectual activity of Tunisia.

Tunisia hosts numerous international film, arts, and historical festivals, including the Summer Festivals of Carthage, Dougga, and Hammamet, which host top international artists, the International Festival of El Jem for classical music, the Andalusian Music Festival of Testour, the Sahara Festival in Douz, the International Film Festival of Carthage, the Mythological Films Festival in Jerba and the Theater Festival of Carthage.

Tunisian museums contain invaluable masterpieces. Housed in a former 19th century Beylical Palace, the Bardo Museum boasts the largest collection of Roman mosaics in the world.

Other renowned museums include:

The media landscape offers great diversity and pluralism. About 250 domestic publications and nearly 860 foreign newspapers and magazines are distributed in Tunisia. There are about 950 journalists and more than 70 foreign correspondents in Tunisia. Liberalization measures taken by the government since 1987 have encouraged the media in general and given more incentives to the opposition press in particular.

The audiovisual media environment is marked by openness to the outside world (with access to satellite and cable broadcasting). Special efforts have been made to introduce new communication and information technologies. Tunisia was one of the first countries in Africa and the Arab world to develop open access to the worldwide information highway. All secondary schools and universities are today connected to the Internet. E-commerce attracts an increasing number of businesses.

On November 7, 2003 Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali announced "the opening of the audiovisual landscape to the private radio and television stations". On the same day, a privately-owned radio station, 'Radio Mosaique FM", the first ever private radio station in Tunisia, started broadcasting.