Tourism is certainly one of the sectors most affected by the pandemic. However, beyond the disparities, international destinations and experts agree on the fact that, despite the uncertainties, its reactivation will operate in all parts of the world in the form of local tourism, also known as staycation.
To (Re)discover your region can be exciting as far as ordinary is turned into extraordinary experiences.
That’s why the Creative Tourism Network® has implemented the following actions :
- The Creative Tourism Network® will dedicate the World Tourism Day (September 27) to Creative Tourism and Staycation:
As this date can be seen as a return to certain tourist activity in both hemispheres, the Creative Tourism Network® proposes to virtually connect the experiences lived locally on each of its CreativeFriendly labeled destinations.
Concretely, during this day, the destinations will invite the local population to participate in a wide choice of creative experiences allowing them to rediscover their intangible heritage, by living a unique experience and becoming official ambassadors of their territory.
A wide array of activities including weaving or blowing glass workshops, traditional dances, music or cooking lessons, photographic tours, to name just a few, aimed to highlight the Know-how, creativity, and human relationships, among the assets of this virtuous tourism.
The Creative Tourism Network® will orchestrate a communication strategy inviting to a virtual journey through these ambassadors’ experiences. The detailed program of activities of this Day, as well as new CreativeFriendly labeled destinations, will be unveiled in the coming weeks.
In some way, a look back at the essence of the travel and human values by recreating a peer-to-peer linkage and converting this tourism into an ecosystem and a lever for the local development.
An opportunity for these destinations to position themselves in the perspective of 2021, declared by the United Nations, the International Year of the Creative Economy and Sustainable Development.
In this sense, the Creative Tourism Network® also offers free support and advice service for destinations wishing to join it and to position themselves in this booming sector.
- Professional Creative Tourism and CreativeFriendlyDestinations week:
– B2B meetings :
In order to make up for the absence, in recent months, from international meetings in the tourism industry, the CreativeTourismNetwork® is relying on digital to promote the offers of CreativeFriendly labeled destinations to the B2B sector.
Thus, the World Tourism Day will be completed by the programming of webinars aimed to highlight the differential offer of these destinations by presenting their portfolio of creative experiences, both characteristic of the local culture, and the result of a process of co-creation generating a value chain for the territory.
In addition, travel agencies, tour operators, and travel advisors, who incorporate these experiences into their offers and catalogs will benefit from the free promotion of the CreativeTourismNetwork® in international markets.
– Experts meetings on Creative Tourism:
In order to analyze this tourism and its rapid evolution, sessions will be organized with the participation of experts, to discuss its characteristics and good practices to follow.
– The Creative Tourism Awards :
This event will also be an opportunity to highlight the winners of the CreativeTourismAwards. These annual trophies, organized by the CreativeTourismNetwork®, reward initiatives which, at a global level, demonstrate a clear commitment to creative tourism and thereby contribute to the creation of a value chain for their territory.
In the first six editions, initiatives from 35 countries were awarded, classified into different categories:
– Best Strategy for Creative Tourism Development
– Best Creative Destination
– Best Creative Travel Agency / Tour Operators
– Best Creative Residency
– Best Creative Experiences
At the same time, the call for applications for the next edition of CreativeTourismAwards will be announced on our networks in the coming weeks.
