Abstract:A new paradigm in the tourism industry is changing the meaning of culture and its use in promoting several touristic products/experiences and destinations. The questions we want to answer are the following: How can creative tourism be important in a destination and what are its implications in its organization? Methodology was based on the bibliographic review related to the object of study, data and content analysis, "snowball sampling" technique, surveys and participant observation technique. This paper analyzes how the event MED Festival in Loulé, Algarve has improved local economy, solved urban problems in the historical center (venue of the event) and helped to differentiate touristic supply in the mature touristic destination in the Algarve, Portugal.Keywords: Cultural and Creative Tourism; Cultural Event; Urban Regeneration; MED Festival; Algarve. Turismo cultural y creativo en PortugalResumen: Un nuevo paradigma en la industria turística está cambiando el significado de la cultura y sus usos de forma a promocionar productos o experiencias y destinos otros. Las cuestiones que ponemos son las siguientes: ¿Cuál es la importancia del turismo creativo en un destino turístico y cuáles serán las consecuencias para su organización? La metodología seguida se basó en una revisión de la literatura relativa al objeto de investigación, estudio de caso, análisis de datos, análisis de contenido, toma de muestras, "bola de nieve", encuestas y observación participante. Este artículo analiza cómo el evento Festival MED en Loulé, Algarve ha mejorado la economía local, ha resuelto problemas urbanos en el centro histórico (área del evento) y ayudó a diferenciar la oferta turística en el destino turístico maduro, en el Algarve, Portugal.Palabras Clave: Turismo cultural y turismo creativo; evento cultural; Regeneración Urbana; MED Festival; Algarve.

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Quality in cultural heritage attractions is mainly approached from the visitors' satisfaction perspective, and the literature does not contain a clear definition of quality in the management of cultural heritage sites open to the public. The present study aims to reframe this trend. By way of theoretical contribution, we propose a definition of quality in cultural heritage attractions management based on dimensions such as the capacity of preserving the cultural assets, the ability to communicate effectively their significance, the quality of commodification for visitor use, and the ability to boost intercultural competence and promote intercultural dialogue. Based on the above, an empirical, qualitative study was conducted on the cultural heritage managers' current perceptions of quality. The results suggest that a profound asymmetry exists among practitioners' opinions and practices, and four types of cultural heritage managers were defined with regard to their perception of quality: Reactionary, Reticent, Pragmatic, Enthusiastic. Good ideas are not adopted automatically. They must be driven into practice with courageous patience.

This study sought to develop a conceptual model of innovative tourism product development, because the existing models tend to provide an incomplete framework for these products’ development. The models presented to date focus on either the resources needed, the tourism experiences to be provided, or development processes. These models also tend to see the overall process as linear. The proposed model gives particular importance to the development process’s design, as well as stressing a dynamic, nonlinear approach. Based on the new services or products’ concept, project managers identify tourism destinations’ core resources, select the stakeholders, and design transformative tourism experiences. This framework can be applied to innovative tourism products or re-evaluations of existing products in order to maintain tourism destinations’ competitiveness. Thus, the model is applicable to both destination management companies and the private tourism sector.

Creative tourism has been a proficuous ground for the implementation of ICT's (Information and Communications Technology) strategies and the so-called creative industries. New cultural mediators are changing tourism consumption. Postmodern consumers have brought new perceptions to cocreation processes through user-generated content, eWOM (Electronic Word of Mouth), peer-to-peer exchange, collaborative economy, SoLoMo (social-local-mobile) tourists, among others. Booktubers and music fans/consumers in Chile constitute examples of diverse consumption through virtual and physical mediation, as capital construction enables social practices. In this exploratory study, the authors discuss how creative experiences are being consumed through cultural mediation made possible by technological developments. The creative tourism network website is analysed in the light of postmodern cultural mediation and capital construction.

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Despite the rising number of creative tourism publications, creative tourism is still emerging as a recent research area. Its study ranges from urban cities to rural areas implicating different uses for creativity, culture, events, creative networks and the co-creation of experiences. This paper had the goal to focus on the main theoretical subjects of creative tourism as a research area. As a result, the authors pinpoint vital issues present in creative tourism literature even though its definition is still evolving. After a thorough literature review, the authors conceptualised three main theoretical contributions present in creative tourism literature: 1) creativity and its relation to tourism, (2) specialised consumption as a characteristic of the postmodern tourist and 3) the experience economy paradigm and co-creation. This study identifies the main theoretical underpinnings of creative tourism, which made this special interest tourism gain so much importance in recent years.

The main aim of this paper is the analysis of the third sector arts, culture and local development organisations (TSO) participation in the context of tourism planning and development and to understand the characteristics of its connections to the tourism sector in the region of the Algarve. The methodological strategy is anchored in a mix-methods approach applying qualitative techniques such as semistructured interviews (n=40), document analysis, non-participant observation, and adopting a triangulation approach. There have been few empirical studies that analyse this theme, thus, identifying the forms of participation that the third sector can adopt and their characteristics constitutes one of the main contributions of this research towards reinforcing the conceptual framework in the context of responsible tourism development. The results revealed that third sector organisations display a set of characteristics that position them as active agents in the tourist planning and development processes by operating on areas such as the promotion of cultural expression, research and inventory of cultural and natural resources, raising awareness of those resources and also by actively participating in supply structuring of tourist services.