The role of the creative industries in regional development during the economic cycle: case of the Region of Epirus, Greece

In the era of extraordinary changes and globalisation, many researchers acknowledge that creativity and innovation are now driving the new economy. Countries and regions that embrace creativity generate higher revenue, more jobs and provide greater stability. The objective of this paper is to analyse the role of cultural and creative industries in regional development during the economic cycle. In this context, we map the current situation and needs for development of the cultural and creative industries using the case of the Region of Epirus in Greece. This research is based on literature reviews, interviews, statistical data and commercial register's data. The data was collected between September 2014 and March 2015. The database is built according to the NACE codes used to describe the cultural and creative industries. In the paper, we analyse the trend in the development of cultural and creative industries during the last decades with emphasis on the years of the last economic crisis. We identify main opportunities and challenges for its development, necessary conditions, main constraints and we try to outline main directions for future sector's growth taking into consideration the assumption that the development of this sector maybe the engine of the future region's growth.