Revitalizing Rural Tourism through Creative Tourism: the Role and Importance of the Local Community

Abstract

Creative tourism is a current topic, yet most of the research is focused on the urban context, with few articles focusing on how creativity can be used and developed in the setting of rural tourism. Furthermore, the theoretical elements identified in this article can become checkpoints through which better strategies for sustainable rural tourism can be developed in the future. Although rich in culture, Romanian villages have not developed their rural tourism offer to its full potential, partly because of the lack of involvement of the local community in long-term tourism planning and development, but also due to the changes in what tourists want from their tourism experience. In response to shifting patterns in consumer behavior, creative tourism has emerged as a better form of cultural tourism, but mostly in urban areas, which has led to a proliferation of creative industries and people within that specific context. The study proposes that most Romanian rural communities in areas pertaining to tourism already have local individuals with some of the characteristics of the creative people necessary for the development of creative tourism. By involving the entire local community in tourism planning, and not just the local actors with direct ties to it, Romanian rural tourism can be revitalized.

Rethinking Cultural Creativity and Tourism Resilience in the Post-Pandemic Era in Chinese Traditional Villages

“…Remoaldo conducted factor analysis method and cluster analysis method, studying creative tourism participants from 40 pilot institutions, which were selected for the CREATOUR project based on their sociodemographic characteristics and tourism behaviors, and he obtained three clusters of novelty seekers, knowledge and skills learners, and casual creativity seekers [39]. Souca, Marques and Li discussed the design of creative tourism in villages, cities and communities, analyzed the importance of communities and local individuals in creative tourism and rural revitalization, proposed a "playable city" concept, and continued the discussion on the "creative landscape" [40][41][42]. Ross relied on the perspective of participatory cocreation to analyze how creative tourism promotes the cocreation of stories about archaeological heritage and solves heritage protection issues.…”

“…Thus, places undergo a series of chain reactions that make them gradually lose their uniqueness [45]. However, in some places that benefit from an advantageous location but lack creative production strategies (such as traditional villages or villages with heritage value), highlighting cultural value and creative production are particularly important [40].…”

Mountain Tourism in the Perception of Romanian Tourists: A Case Study of the Rodna Mountains National Park

“…The study showed that not only the urban areas, but also the Romanian rural areas have residents endowed with abilities necessary in developing creative tourism. The main conclusion was that to revitalize the Romanian rural tourism, the entire local community needs to be involved in the tourism planning process, not just the ones with direct ties to it [18].…”