Paper presented at the conference Creative Spaces for Cultural Tourism, Istanbul, 19-21

November 2009

Creativity and the art of distinction

Greg Richards

Department of Leisure Studies

Tilburg University
The Netherlands
g.w.richards@uvt.nl

Creativity is a hot issue, across the economy as a whole, and increasingly in tourism in
particular. As cities compete to draw creative talent and creatively-attracted visitors, the
question of how a city can creatively employ its cultural assets to become more attractive
becomes increasingly relevant.

The current challenges facing many cities are neatly encapsulated in the themes of this
conference, which is considering:

1) The expansion of cultural tourism

2) The regeneration of cities as creative cultural spaces using all their tangible and intangible
cultural assets.

These two issues are inextricably linked, since the need for cities to diversify cultural tourism
and to redefine themselves as creative spaces are driven by the same basic forces. Cities face
growing competition to attract inward investment, talent and consumer spending as a result of
globalisation and the transformation of urban economies into high-value service and experience
production.

At the same time, there has been a globalisation of economic strategies to meet inter-urban
competition, which include the development of centres of high-tech production, investment in
research, the development of experience consumption (e.g. through mega events) and image
development (e.g. through iconic buildings). This has led a number of commentators to suggest
that cities are becoming more homogeneous and that ‘placelessness’ is increasing (Relph,
1976; Lynch, 1976; Davidson, 1995; Smith, 2007).

In order to combat homogenisation and to respond to challenges of globalisation and economic

restructuring, one of the key priorities is to develop distinction, not just in terms of culture, but in
terms of the entire production and consumption system.

For example, Markusen and Schrock (2006:1302) argue that cities:

Increasingly seek to distinguish themselves from other cities, domestic and international,
with whom they see themselves competing for firms, workers and residents.

Similarly Turok (2008) claims that

The pursuit of distinctiveness through high value production and quality-based assets can
be interpreted as a strategy to differentiate cities in response to intensified international
competition.

With accelerated world market integration, cities compete with each other cities as
sites of production and consumption, targeting firms and households as semi-autonomous
location decision-makers. According to Markusen and Schrock (2006), distinction may be
sought in productive structure, consumption and identity:
  Productive distinctiveness captures relative uniqueness of a city’s production
factors—land, labour, capital and technology.

 Consumptive distinctiveness connotes the unique consumption patterns on the part of

urban residents,

 Identity distinctiveness relates to the extent to which cities are recognised by

residents and non-residents as being culturally unique.

In other words, cities may be distinctive because of their economic base, the consumption of
residents or their distinctive image. Examples of strategies to develop these different forms of
distinctiveness in cities abound, and one might argue that the creative city is a specific strategy
that utilises all three dimensions of distinctiveness simultaneously, by developing the creative
industries to attract the consumption of the creative class and give a distinctive, creative image
to the city.

However, the analysis of US cities by Markusen and Schrock (2006) indicates that
distinctiveness in the economic base of cities increased between 1980 and 2000, while
Resident consumption patterns became more similar. In other words, these two distinctiveness
strategies have tended to cancel each other out over time, and there has been relatively little
change in the overall economic distinctiveness of US cities.

If cities find it hard to increase economic distinctiveness, it is not surprising that many have
opted for the development of symbolic distinctiveness, by creating a new image or transforming
an existing one. Turok identifies a growing emphasis on developing distinction through
branding, which matches ‘the growing importance attached to intangible and soft assets in
economic competitiveness.’ Arguably cities are now paying increasing attention to their
intangible assets and image, because these are the elements of the civic economy which can
be most easily changed.

This also explains why culture, creativity and tourism have become essential elements of
economic strategy in many cities. Culture provides the raw materials which can be creatively
employed to enhance city image and attract the creative class as residents or tourists, who
through their consumption also add to the attractiveness of the city.

Richards and Wilson (2006) have identified a range of tourism-related strategies that have been
employed by cities in relation to culture:
  Heritage mining
 Themeing
 Events
 Iconic structures

These strategies can be related to the search for distinction and to the pressure of the
experience economy on cities—a pressure which in recent years has found its expression in a
number of comprehensive transformations of the physical and architectural environments, and
new eventscapes related to fun and cultural experience are emerging. According to Marling et al
(2009):

The “experience economy” places new demands on urban political strategy-making, on

the cities’ cultural networks, on local artistic competences and on the spatial and
architectural frames. The physical, architectural and planning-oriented dimensions of
flexible accumulation, reflexive accumulation and experiencescapes are captured by the
notion of “hybrid cultural project” and “performative urban space”. We define “hybrid
cultural projects” as a conscious fusion between urban transformation and new
knowledge centres, cultural institutions and experience environments. “Performative
urban spaces” are defined as stages for performance, learning and experience. The
performative activity may be a temporary event but still recurring, which influences the
shape and identity of the space.

They further argue that ‘The new projects have become the hotbed of a new urban culture that
consciously fuses the traditional shopping and cafe´ life of the city with knowledge, experience
and play.’ (p. 868). Cities such as Barcelona have made a ‘conscious effort during the last 15–
20 years to use the experience economy as the driving force in transformation strategies.’ (p.
866)

However, Richards and Wilson (2006) have also noted that there is a high degree of
convergence in such strategies, which therefore tends to lessen their potential for developing
distinction. At the same time, as Russo (2002) has argued, classic cultural and heritage tourism
development in cities can lead to a vicious circle of decline, with massification leading to
downgrading of the product, falling revenues, ultimately lack of investment, and ultimately a
decline in the quality of tourism.

Creativity is seen by Richards and Wilson (2006) as one means to overcome the pitfalls of many
current cultural tourism strategies.

1. Creativity can potentially add value more easily because of its scarcity.
2. Creativity allows destinations to innovate new products relatively rapidly
3. Because creativity is a process, creative resources are generally more sustainable than
tangible cultural products.
4. Creativity is generally more mobile than tangible cultural products.
5. Creativity involves not just value creation (economic wealth) but also the creation of values
(cultural wealth).

The added flexibility of creative development strategies is underlined by the range of forms and
contexts in which they can be applied. Creativity can be the main focus of the activity at the
destination, for example through specific learning experiences, or is can be a backdrop to more
general tourism consumption, for example through urban design or creative ‘atmosphere’
(Richards and Wilson, 2007). Creativity also responds to the dual needs of producers and
consumers – providing a USP for the producer in an increasingly competitive marketplace, as
well as distinction for the consumer. Increasing, the distinction between the producer and
consumer of creative experiences is disappearing as both combine in a process of ‘co-creation’
(Binkhorst and den Dekker, 2009).

One of the key reasons for the emergence of co-creation in travel is the desire of many
travellers to experience the ‘local’, which is a means of distinguishing oneself from other
tourists. In response to this need a new breed of cultural intermediary has sprung up, dedicated
to providing local cultural experiences to visitors. Very often these intermediaries work closely
with the creative sector and the clients to ‘co-create’ new, individualised experiences.

The desire to do something different and distinctive is also supported by the diversification of
travel itself. The growth of low-cost carriers has produced a new mass market of individual
travellers, many keen to experience something different from their fellow-travellers. Once out of
the airport, Internet booking confirmations in hand, they set off into the city to discover their
home-made version of the local. This trend is at once monitored and stimulated by articles in the
in-flight magazines of such carriers, extolling the virtues of out-of-the-way places and ‘non-
tourist’ locations.

In actual fact, very few of these self-creating creative tourists may do anything actively creative.
Many will be content to soak up the creative buzz of an ethnic neighbourhood or pop into a few
museums during their stay. The creative tourism product in cities therefore seems to be
diverging into more specific learning experiences and creative ‘tastings’ which are far less likely
to be organised.

We can therefore begin to identify a range of different contexts in which creative tourism can be
developed, and a range of different forms that it may take. Creativity can be developed in terms
of active involvement of tourists in creative activities (which one might call the ‘classic’ model of
creative tourism) or creativity may be experienced in a more passive way as a background to
other activities and experiences. The level of involvement will to a large extent determine the
type of experience for the tourist:

Learning Workshops

Tasting Experiences
Open ateliers

Seeing Itineraries

Buying Shop window

In order to illustrate some of these different forms, the following section presents a selection of
examples of different styles of creative tourism products and experiences.

Examples of creative tourism experiences

Learning experiences

The most developed creative tourism network can be found in the city of Nelson, New Zealand,
where Creative Tourism New Zealand has been established as a network of creative
businesses offering products to tourists (www.creativetourism.co.nz). The network provides a
wide range of creative experiences, including bone carving, Maori language classes, weaving,
felting and woodwork and New Zealand gastronomy. The focus is very much on learning
experiences, with a range of hands-on workshops being run by local tutors (Raymond, 2007).

Creative Tourism Barcelona (www.barcelonacreativa.info) takes a slightly different approach,

acting as an intermediary to link creative producers in the city with people from other parts of the
world who want to engage in creative activities there. This more artistic approach to the
development of creative tourism provides a platform through which potential creative tourists
can indicate the types of creative activities they are interested in, and they are then put in touch
with local creative sector actors who can provide the facilities or resources to make it happen.
More recently, Creative Tourism Barcelona has also been developing more specific creative
activities with creative producers which can be offered to groups of 'creative tourists' on
demand.

Particular spaces have also been developed to offer creative learning experiences to visitors in
different parts of the world. For example the Italian coffee producer illy’s Università del Caffè
provides courses on all aspects of coffee and coffee making at 11 different locations
(http://www.illy.com/wps/wcm/connect/us/illy/the-world-of-coffee/universita-del-caffe/). Since
1999, approximately 22,000 students have graduated from this institution. The Valrhona
chocolate company provides similar courses for gourmets and professionals in their L’Ecole du
Grand Chocolat in Southern France.
Tasting creativity

The idea of ‘tasting’ a culture and its creativity of course derives directly from gastronomy, and
so it not surprising that this is also one of the most common forms of tasing creative tourism.
There are innumerable examples of cookery schools and gastronomy courses to be found all
over the world.

For example, Turkish Flavours (http://www.turkishflavours.com/index.html) offers a range of

gastronomic experiences in Turkey, including:

 Culinary vacations in Turkey

 Customized Gourmet Itineraries
 Private Turkish Cooking Courses in a Turkish Home
 Local Market tours
 Street food tours
 Fun Turkish Cooking for groups
 Spouse programs
 Turkish Cooking Competitions for Incentive Groups
 Istanbul Home Hosted Dinners
 Gourmet Luxury Picnic cruises

According to the website, ‘Turkish Flavours promotes all that is extraordinary not only about the
Turkish Table, but also about the Turkish way of life’. It is clear that this is not just about food,
but also about the cultural and creative context of producing and consuming it. There is a lot of
emphasis on the ‘local’ aspects of gastronomy, which ties the universal act of eating into the
place itself, thereby making a distinctive experience not just of the food itself, but also the place
in which it is consumed.

A different example of tasting experiences is provided by the Korean Temple Stay programme,
which is specifically designed to offer visitors a taste of life in a Buddhist Temple. Since it
started in 2002 at least 6,000 foreigners have stayed at the 44 temples in the programme as
well as more than 30,000 Koreans. The number of participants is increasing dramatically. In the
first year of its operation less than 1,000 foreigners participated, but by 2008 more than two
thousand had participated in the first seven months of the year alone (OECD, 2009).

A more passive way of tasting creativity is through contact with design. Design hotels are
springing up in cities around the world, but the actual creative content of most of these is
disappointing. More creative concepts can usually be found in smaller, local projects, such as
the Camping House in Barcelona. The Camping House Barcelona (http://www.barcelona-
house.com/CHcast/arquitectostxtC.html) is a new concept in tourist accommodation, providing
guests with the sensation of camping in the middle of the city, and adding design value to their
stay. This apartment, along with two others have been designed by young architects to allow
tourists to experience cutting edge Barcelona design, and also to interact with the local
community during their stay.

Istanbul has been seeking to establish itself as a cool city (‘IstanCool’), based on the work for
the 2010 European Capital of Culture and its growing reputation as ‘the place to be’. This is
reflected in the extensive coverage given to Istanbul by Wallpaper Magazine, which also
awarded the Müzedechanga Restaurant the title of ‘best new restaurant’ in 2007.

The important thing for any destination seeking to develop creative tourism is to be able to
integrate the tourism and creative offer in an innovative way which strengthens more traditional
tourism products as well as offering new possibilities. In this regard, the Spanish company Co-
creations has been a major innovator for a number of years, and is now helping the city of
Sitges with its development of creative products. One of the main activities of Co-creations is
the ‘Co-lab’, where producers and consumers come together to talk about and exchange ideas
on the development of tourism. This can happen in fairly informal settings, but it can also take
on a more structured form, such as the regular ‘Co-meetings’ that Co-creations stages for
stakeholders in the city. From attracting a handful of people two years ago, these meetings now
regularly have 50 participants.

The important point about this development is that it applies creativity to the whole destination,
rather than seeing creative tourism as one more niche product to be exploited. In this way, the
destination as a whole can be innovated, and qualitative change in tourism can be achieved,
rather than simply incremental change. This is increasingly the way in which cities will need to
think about applying creativity in tourism. The other important point is that this initiative is not
driven by the public sector – is driven by the creative class in Sitges itself. It is bottom-up,
innovative and flexible.

These types of anchored creativity developments are one way of countering the
commodification and superficialisation of creativity which now seems to be widespread. In many
cities, for example, the level of creativity is measured using the Bo-Ho Index, or the Wallpaper
Index. Rather like Wallpaper, the type of creativity being measured is usually thin, superficial
and temporary. The epitome of this type of development is the ‘pop-up’ shop or restaurant which
appears in a kink of the urban fabric one day and disappears the next. This is creativity as
surprise rather than creativity as learning or engagement..

Implications for the city

What are the important points that cities need to consider in developing creative tourism?

The first point is that creative tourism is qualitatively different from cultural tourism. Cultural
tourism in cities increasingly caters for a mass audience with standardised modes of delivery
and a growing lack of creativity.

Developing creative tourism requires the city itself to become creative. The whole point about
creative tourism is that it is not just about the tourists. In order to develop creative experiences
which are characteristic of the cities in which they take place, producers need to think carefully
about what is creative and distinctive about the city and how these aspects can be made
accessible for tourists.

Developing creative tourism products should ideally take place through a process of co-creation,
in which the consumer is a co-producer of their own experiences. This means leaving room for
consumer creativity, using their ideas and working together to innovate and develop new
products. This is a new way of working for many in the tourism sector.

Another important point about creative tourism products is that even more than cultural tourism
products they tend to be developed by the cultural and creative sectors rather than the tourism
sector. This creates a need for the cultural/creative and tourism sectors to work together in
developing creative tourism, which is actually quite a challenge. Tourism and culture tend to
speak different languages, so there is often the need for an intermediary function to link the two.

The way in which there products are marketed is also different. The emphasis on small-scale
production and consumption means that the consumer needs to be approached on a much
more individual basis. This is not just a question of developing a website in the hope that people
will find you – you need to actively engage with networks which link the creative class. As well
as being the main producers of creative experiences these people are usually also the main
consumers.

Successful creative tourism development therefore requires the city to develop a range of new
skills which hopefully will help it not just in the development of creative tourism, but in many
other areas of cultural and tourism development as well. Creative tourism can help destinations
to rethink and refit cultural tourism in interesting and innovative ways. in doing so, places can
not only increase their potential to attract creative tourists, but can also increase their general
creative potential, helping to address broader cultural, social and economic problems. At a very
basic level, for example, the recognition of minority cultures as a source of creativity and skills
rather than tradition or cultural objects immediately places these groups in a new position vis a
vis the mainstream economy, the tourism industry, the tourists and society as a whole.
Individuals who possess unique creative skills are placed in a new position of power as the
purveyors of knowledge and the teachers of skills. The tourist is also transformed from an
insensitive individual who is ignorant about local culture into a pupil and a colleague who is
there to receive and exchange knowledge with their hosts.

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