Tourism, Creativity and Development

It critically examines the developing relationship between tourism and creativity, the articulation of the ‘creative turn’ in tourism, and the impact this has on theoretical perspectives and practical approaches to tourism development. A wide range of examples from Europe, North America, Asia, Australia and Africa explore the interface between tourism and creativity including: creative spaces and places such as cultural and creative clusters and ethnic precincts; the role of the creative industries and entrepreneurs in the creation of experiences; creativity and rural areas; the 'creative class' and tourism; lifestyle, creativity and tourism and marketing creative tourism destinations. The relationship between individual and collective forms of creativity and the widely differing forms of modern tourism are also discussed. In the concluding section of the book the contribution of creativity to tourism and to development strategies in general is assessed, and areas for future research are outlined.

The diverse multidisciplinary contributions link theory and practice, and demonstrate the strengths and weaknesses of creativity as a tourism development strategy and marketing tool. It is the first exploration of the relationship between tourism and creativity and its consequences for tourism development in different parts of the world.