Relationship among creative tourism development strategies, creative industries, and activities: A case study of Lucknow, India

Abstract

Creative tourism provides a novel, diversified, and meaningful experience to tourists. It is distinctive due to the active participation of tourists in activities. Destination managers often lack awareness of the complex relationship between creative activities and the role of creative industries, which is crucial for tourism development. Limited studies have explored the dynamics between creative tourism, creative industries, and activities, necessitating investigation of this area of research. Hence, the present study addressed the knowledge gap by identifying key strategic areas for creative tourism development. The first objective was to analyse the interrelationship of creative activities and their influence on each other. The second was to rank the importance of creative industries based on creative activities. Accordingly, the expert opinion survey was conducted, and collected information was analysed using two multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) techniques. While the causal effect of activities and their weights were calculated through fuzzy DEMATEL, creative industries were prioritised using the fuzzy TOPSIS method. This study identified six activities and 12 creative industries contributing to creative tourism. Findings indicated that 'visiting workshops' significantly impacted every other activity, while 'interaction of tourists with artisans' emerged as the most influential activity. Furthermore, the 'handicraft' industry was identified as most suitable for engaging tourists in creative tourism, followed by the 'design' and 'performing art' industries. The study underscored the interlinkage of creative tourism activities and emphasised that improvement in one activity can positively affect others. These findings will assist decision-makers in formulating strategies for specific activities and creative industries, enhancing creative tourism experiences.