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In-Depth Information
processes of placing and framing the product (see Cloke, 2007), the municipalities must leave
enough space for visitors to make the conceptual links between art and place on their own
terms. The clearest example of the potential for this kind of creative tourism experience is
inherent in Picasso's works featuring the town of Horta de Sant Joan, painted during his two
summer stays there, which clearly show the geographical aspect and distinctive traits of the
town on its hill and the surrounding mountains (els Ports). Similarly, that Gaudí found much
inspiration in the natural environment of his childhood home near Reus is unquestionably
evident within his architecture. Perhaps the most challenging example is fi nding and situ-
ating a house on the Sant Salvador beachfront (el Vendrell) somewhere deep within the
compositions and music of cellist Pau Casals.
This may all sound contentious in relation to the relatively static domain of 'cultural' and
'heritage'-based tourism as we have known it until recently, but as Richards and Wilson argue,
'from this apparently unpromising palette of experiential material, the creative tourist is able to
create a richness of experience that may well surpass that of the “unskilled” tourist. More atten-
tion therefore needs to be paid to harnessing the perceptual and imaginative capital of visitors
(2007a: 257). This example also illustrates creativity's potential as a mechanism for marginal
and peripheral spaces and places, as with these lesser-known destinations, which are situated
along one of the most competitive tourism axes in the world - the western Mediterranean.
There are limited examples of case-study-based research on creativity and tourism; not all
from within a spatial perspective but still relevant nonetheless. On the plus side, the range of
case studies emerging is increasingly diverse and interesting in terms of scope and coverage.
For the most part, the literature indicates that we are starting to get to grips with the potential
and possible trajectories for creativity in tourism settings, although arguably many studies can
only skim the surface, principally due to a lack of common conceptual frameworks (see the
fi nal chapter in Richards and Wilson, 2007a for a more detailed refl ection on this).
There also tends to be a strong advocacy element in research on the creative class and tourism
(much of which gets funded by the tourism industry or local authorities rapidly seeking evidence
with which to convince the electorate to endorse such projects). Many studies also appear to be
unaware of the potential 'bandwagon effects' of the wholesale transplantation of creativity
rhetoric, particularly in the present fragile economic climate. Furthermore, we have as yet paid
very little attention to the real benefi ts of creative resources and human creative capital in
tourism, in terms of what they might constitute and who has access to them. In addition,
because the language of creativity tends to be diffi cult for many people to penetrate, it may be
relatively easy to exclude certain groups from creative policies (whether by omission or design)
and there is a clear need to involve residents more actively in creative development and also, one
might argue, visitors (Richards and Wilson, 2007a). In this last section, I suggest a number of
potential issues which may usefully form a part of future research agendas in this fi eld.
Tourism, creativity and space: a research agenda
Firstly, and echoing Anton Clavé's observations
(Chapter 28),
it is important to bear in mind
that it is increasing ly impossible to separate urban pol icy and reg u lator y f unct ions f rom tour ism
functions (at least in the context of metropolitan places). I believe that this is also becoming the
case with creativity and tourism policy domains (which logically extend to urban fringe and
non-urban spaces). Therefore, it is important to set a research agenda in creativity and tourism
development which fully acknowledges this increasing policy and regulatory convergence and
begins to understand the spatial and place-based implications of such a shift. It is also important
to begin to understand the relative transferability of creative development models in tourism,
