Tourism development trajectories - from culture to creativity?

Culture and tourism were two of the major growth industries of the twentieth century, and in recent decades the combination of these two sectors into ‘cultural tourism’ has become one of the most desirable development options for countries and regions around the world. As the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) report on The Impact of Culture on Tourism (2009) noted, cultural tourism accounted for almost 360 million international tourism trips in 2007, or 40 per cent of global tourism. In value terms, the contribution of cultural tourism is even greater, since cultural tourists are estimated to spend as much as onethird more on average than other tourists (Richards 2007). However, the rapid growth of cultural tourism from the preserve of the elite Grand Tourists to a major industry in the last century has also caused problems. Growing numbers of tourists at major sites and in small communities has raised questions about the sustainability of this new form of mass tourism. In particular it has become harder for destinations to profile their culture among the welter of products on offer, each desperate to claim their uniqueness. There is a growing number of places in search of new forms of articulation between culture and tourism which can help to strengthen rather than water down local culture, which can raise the value accruing to local communities and improve the links between local creativity and tourism. Many places are therefore turning to creative development strategies, or different forms of creative tourism in the process (Richards 2011). This chapter examines why and how cultural tourism is being transformed into creative tourism.