Abstract
Over the last decades, tourism has experienced exponential growth, expansion and diversification, being considered one of the most important socio-economic sectors, an essential source of income and employment for many territories. In response to the concerns about the negative impacts of tourism and to improve the relationship between hosts and tourists, culture-based creativity in tourism field is seen as a path to create competitive advantages and innovative solutions to a smart, sustainable and inclusive growth. Notably, in Portuguese Research and Innovation Strategy for Smart Specialization Strategy , this encompasses to stimulate cultural and creative industries and valuing national identity and tourism. Therefore, many cities have sought to reinvent the image of their territories to distinguish them as cultural and creative destinations, by encouraging synergies between tourism and the cultural and creative sectors to foster the development of new products, experiences and markets (Delisle & Jolin, 2007; Duxbury & Richards, 2019; Richards & Wilson, 2007). In this context and despite the attractiveness of large capitals and metropolises as tourism destinations, small towns and even rural areas are also benefiting from the growth of tourism flows and massification effects. They can offer small-scale, unique and tailored-made interactive experiences based on local culture and community lifestyles, with the possibility of generating positive social impacts for these communities (Richards & Duif, 2018; Wisansing & Vongvisitsin, 2019). Impact assessment in this field has predominantly focused on the economic dimension. However, there is a growing awareness to stress the relevance of socio-cultural impacts in the equation and to develop new assessment methods. The objective is to determine and motorizing more accurately the multiple linkages and effects of the articulation of culture creativity-based activities in tourism development in context of the Portuguese smart specialization strategy. There are some conceptual and operational demands due to the nature of these activities, their effects at different levels and sectors and their specific characteristics. This paper discusses an integrative model of analysis that embraces several dimensions of sustainability in culture and creative tourism-related initiatives, considering the specificities of each territory (e.g. resources, stakeholders, places, etc.) that influence the nature of initiatives. And, as these experiences are developed in the interaction between visitors and local hosts, the analysis reflects their motivations/expectations regarding impacts. This model has been developed and tested within the scope of the project CREATOUR - Creative Tourism Destination Development in Small Cities and Rural Areas - an ongoing nationwide research-action project aimed at incubating and analyze creative tourism activities in small cities and rural areas of Portugal. Our overall objective is to support the development of cultural and creative tourism initiatives in these territories taking into account the impacts generated in the interaction between tourists-residents-promoters. References Delisle, M.-A., & Jolin, L. (2007). Un autre tourisme est-il possible? Éthique, acteurs, concepts, contraintes, bonne pratique, ressources. Presses de l’Université du Québec. Duxbury, N., & Richards, G. (2019). A Research Agenda for Creative Tourism. Edward Elgar Publishing. https://doi.org/10.4337/9781788110723 Richards, G., & Duif, L. (2018). Small cities with big dreams: Creative placemaking and branding strategies. Routledge. Richards, G., & Wilson, J. (Eds.). (2007). Tourism, creativity and development. Routledge. Wisansing, J. J., & Vongvisitsin, T. B. (2019). Local impacts of creative tourism initiatives. In N. Duxbury & G. Richards, A Research Agenda for Creative Tourism (pp. 122–136). Edward Elgar Publishing.
