Santa Fe, New Mexico's creative tourism initiative.

Abstract The City of Santa Fe, New Mexico's Creative Tourism Initiative ran from 2009 to 2015. It began as a result of Santa Fe's membership in the United Nations Educational and Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Creative Cities Network. Santa Fe joined the network in 2005, and that same year a UNESCO representative involved in forming the Creative Cities Network brought up the concept of creative tourism as an economic development tool. Santa Fe, population 84,683 (US Census Bureau, 2019), is known for its history, arts, and culture in a southwestern US state that shares a border with Mexico. As a crossroads for Native American, Spanish, Mexican, and European culture, plus a beautiful desert and mountainous landscape, tourism is one of New Mexico's primary industries. The Creative Tourism Initiative, led by the City of Santa Fe, developed a robust selection of creative tourism experiences and promoted them. The City assigned staff members of its Arts Commission, the city's arts agency, to design and implement the programme. This study tackles how CTI promotes Santa Fe, in terms of training, their website, and other marketing channels.