The theory and cases of creative tourism

Abstract

The pertinence of the study stems from the need to develop the domestic tourism market and creative tourism as one of its areas. Creativity has become a place build-ing strategy as cities and regions seek to increase their appeal to the middle class, support the creative industries, or become “creative cities.” The article analyzes the conceptual apparatus of the creative industry, trends in the development of the crea-tive economy. The practical connection between creativity and the creative economy is represented by specific examples of creative tourism associated with various festi-vals and events. The most famous are the Kunqu opera (Hangzhou, China), the birth-place of Hieronymus Bosch (Hertogenbosch, the Netherlands), Frevo-style music concerts (Recife, Brazil), the CounterPlay festival (Denmark), the #Urbanana project (North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany). In Russia, creative tours are a niche type of tourism and are not yet arranged in all regions, for example, in the Sverdlovsk and Ivanovo regions, the Perm Territory, and the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous District. Thus, the purpose of the study is to analyze the theory of creative tourism and identi-fy the most successful examples of the implementation of creative tours. On the one hand, festivals and events serve to stimulate commercial activities, create new jobs and increase attendance, on the other hand, cultural events have become a common means by which creative spaces are created. The presence of creative events shows a growing relationship between the tourism industry and strategies for creating and promoting tourist destinations. The ability of a tourist destination to compete de-pends on its ability to transform basic inherited factors into created assets with a higher symbolic or iconic value.