The Power of Defining Creative Tourism

Maja Čampelj, creative tourism consultant and Travel Massive leader, put together a Travel Massive Workshop in Slovenia which defined creative tourism and introduced the newest products.

Maja helps travellers feel and understand different cultures and worlds better through creative tourism. Maja also helps locals get in touch with travelers and empower them to be able to show the beauty and uniqness of the culture to the visitors. So, we asked Maja a few questions about her recent workshop Defining Creative Tourism. 

Tell us a bit about yourself and your background in the workshop field.

For the last 10 years I have been working as a tourist guide. I have noticed that less are interested in seeing the hot spots and more are asking to meet locals, to know more about the culture and to participate in everyday activities. This is how I discovered the creative tourism concept. Creative tourism is an answer to modern trends in the travel industry. I started with workshops and counsulting about creative tourism concepts about a year ago and it turned out that there is a huge potential.

What inspired you to lead a Travel Massive Workshop?

The local population is not aware of the treasures of their own culture, so they are not able to create wonderful and unique products that travelers are asking for. I wanted to share my knowledge and experiences with others in our chapter and empower them to concentrate more on creative tourism concepts when designing their products.

Can you give us a description about the topics you discussed during the workshop?

The creative tourism concept is defined as “tourism which offers visitors the opportunity to experience and feel the destination through active participation and learning experiences, which are characteristic of the holiday destination where they are taken.”

During the workshop we have discussed:

• What is creative tourism: The definition, elements and criteria

• Why creative tourism is an answer for the travel and tourism industry: Trends that will influence travel industry in the near future and how can we build long term relations with travelers and visitors

• 6 types of modern tourists: By 2030 there will be 6 main types of travellers, they will no longer be segmented by age and not all millennials will be the same

• Why people will travel in the future: People don’t travel to see but to experience, travellers are choosing destinations and products that are offering authentic and unique experiences

• Elements of creative tourism products: Not every experience is creative tourism, it is important to give travellers a chance to participate in the experience, every creative experience is also intercultural interaction

• New creative tourism products

• Practical examples and discussion: How to transform into creative destinations

Are there any additional tips you’d like to share with our Travel Massive readers?

Creative tourism is an answer for the future of the travel and tourism industry. This is a great opportunity for smaller, less known destinations to attract travelers and build long term relations with them.

Workshop wrap-ups are featured on the Travel Massive news feed to provide community members with quality tips within the travel industry. If you would like to learn more about how you can host a Travel Massive Workshop in your city, click here.