Exploring Creative Tourism: Editors Introduction

Paper presented at the International Conference on Creative Tourism, Barcelona December, 9th - 10th 2010. Creative tourism is a concept that only formally defined a decade ago, but in the intervening years it has seen a significant growth worldwide. The range of presentations at this conference on different creative tourism programmes from all corners of the globe is a clear indication of how widespread it now is. In this presentation I will try and set out some of the reasons for this growth, the different forms of creative tourism that have developed and the challenges that remain for those involved in this new sector of tourism. My basic argument is that the growth of creative tourism has been driven by both production and consumption related forces, and that the maximum benefit can be derived by creatively combining the efforts of both producers and consumers to develop new experiences that both engage and transform participants and host communities alike.

In the past forty years the relationship between culture, economy and society has changed beyond recognition. Culture has grown beyond its original socialisation role to become the oil of the new economy and a vital reservoir of symbolic resources that feeds tourism production and consumption. Heritage has emerged as a force for urban and rural renewal and preservation, become a global industry in its own right. More recently the growth of the creative economy has been marked by the increasing intangibilisation of culture and heritage, as they have become vital markers of symbolic value. In the field of tourism, this change has been marked by the continued growth of cultural tourism, and the recent fragmentation of cultural tourism into a number of sub-fields, including film tourism, gastronomic tourism, festival tourism, etc. (Richards, 2001; Hjalager and Richards, 2002). The growing importance of creativity and intangible heritage in tourism has also been marked by the development of a specific sub-field of ‘creative tourism’ (Richards and Raymond, 2000). Creative tourism arguably represents a departure from traditional models of cultural and heritage tourism, moving away from tangible heritage as the key asset towards creative and symbolic capital. This paper examines the development of creative tourism in recent years, tracing its trajectory from a sub-field of cultural tourism towards an emerging field and philosophy of tourism.

Journal of Tourism Consumption and Practice, 2012

This special issue of the Journal of Tourism Consumption and Practice considers many different facets of the creative tourism phenomenon, and examines the ways in which it has been developed in a range of places, ranging from the frozen north of Canada to the searing heat of Mali. The papers that compose this special issue identify trends and challenges in creative tourism development and, despite the emergent critical thoughts on the subject, they tend to emphasise the positive aspects.

A Research Agenda for Creative Tourism

Creative tourism is a niche tourism area that has emerged both as a development of cultural tourism and in opposition to the emergence of 'mass cultural tourism'. While creative tourism is fed by the general growth in cultural tourism, at the same time it caters to people who want more out of their cultural experiences. Creative tourism demand is driven by travellers seeking more active and participative cultural experiences in which they can use and develop their own creativity. Responding to these demands, and in the context of providing alternative approaches to tourism development in many locations, interest in creative tourism is rising internationally.

Creative Tourism: Activating Cultural Resources and Engaging Creative Travellers, 2021

Creative tourism is part of a number of general trends towards more creative, relational, and locally focused styles of travel. For example, the 'live like a local' trend encourages travellers to reject the 'role' of tourist and to integrate into everyday life and culture at the destination, reciprocated by local recognition of 'temporary residents' (Richards and Marques, 2018). This chapter reviews the development of the creative tourism concept, and considers potential future trajectories.

Tourism & Management Studies, 2019

Despite the rising number of creative tourism publications, creative tourism is still emerging as a recent research area. Its study ranges from urban cities to rural areas implicating different uses for creativity, culture, events, creative networks and the co-creation of experiences. This paper had the goal to focus on the main theoretical subjects of creative tourism as a research area. As a result, the authors pinpoint vital issues present in creative tourism literature even though its definition is still evolving. After a thorough literature review, the authors conceptualised three main theoretical contributions present in creative tourism literature: 1) creativity and its relation to tourism, (2) specialised consumption as a characteristic of the postmodern tourist and 3) the experience economy paradigm and co-creation. This study identifies the main theoretical underpinnings of creative tourism, which made this special interest tourism gain so much importance in recent years. Keywords: Creative tourism, creativity, specialized consumption, experience economy and co-creation.

2014

This chapter reviews the development of creative tourism over the past decade and identifies major trends and practices both from a production and consumption perspective. In particular, this review highlights the shift from tangible to intangible cultural and creative resources as the basis of cultural and creative tourism experiences. A number of different models of creative tourism development are reviewed to illustrate these principles.

Exploring Creative Tourism, Journal of Tourism Consumption and Practice , 2012

This special issue of the Journal of Tourism Consumption and Practice considers many different facets of the creative tourism phenomenon, and examines the ways in which it has been developed in a range of places, ranging from the frozen north of Canada to the searing heat of Mali. The papers that compose this special issue identify trends and challenges in creative tourism development and, despite the emergent critical thoughts on the subject, they tend to emphasise the positive aspects. Journal of Tourism Consumption and Practice, Volume 4, 2012

"The rapidly developing relationship between tourism and creativity, arguably heralds a ‘creative turn’ in tourism studies. Creativity has been employed to transform traditional cultural tourism, shifting from tangible heritage towards more intangible culture and greater involvement with the everyday life of the destination. The emergence of ‘creative tourism’ reflects the growing integration between tourism and different placemaking strategies, including promotion of the creative industries, creative cities and the ‘creative class’. Creative tourism is also arguably an escape route from the serial reproduction of mass cultural tourism, offering more flexible and authentic experiences which can be co-created between host and tourist. However the gathering critique also highlights the potential dangers of creative hype and commodification of everyday life."

Recent years have seen increased attention for the creative economy of cities, of which the UNESCO Creative Cities Network is one concrete example. Most of the activity in creative cities has focused on the productive aspects of creativity – how to develop the creative industries, creative enterprises, innovation and creative clusters. However, effective creative development depends not just on the production of creativity, but also creative consumption. This paper examines two important dimensions of creative consumption in the form of tourism and events, and provides examples of how cities and regions are harnessing creativity in these areas.