Creative tourism was one of the solutions proposed at the International Colloquium “Post-crisis tourism: death or resilience? which took place on May 12 and 13 in Agadir, organized by the interdisciplinary doctoral school of Universiapolis – the International University of Agadir in Morocco in partnership with Al Rayyan International University / University of Derby, Doha, Qatar .
A more than essential issue to convert the negative impacts of crises into new opportunities and which was at the center of this event, brilliantly orchestrated by Professors Hassan Faouzi (Universiapolis Agadir) and Mohamed Boukherouk (Cadi Ayyad University, Essaouira), in which more than 90 high-level international experts and researchers intervened.
As part of the partnership with Al Rayyan-Qatar International University, a round table on the theme “Tourism in the face of the health and Ukrainian crises: Gulf countries and Asia” brought together: Hassan Al-Ibrahim, Tourism Executive and former Chairman , Qatar National Tourism Council (Doha), Ahmed Khelil Abbassi, Executive Director of Competitions and Football Development at Qatar Stars League, Christopher Dutt, Program Leader of International Hospitality Management at ARIU with the University of Derby, Ivan Ninov, Executive Dean of ARIU with the University of Derby, Doha, Qatar Mohit Vij, Associate Editor, Skyline Business Journal, UAE, Sanjay Nakdarni, Director of Innovation & Research at The Emirates Academy of Hospitality Management.
Other sharing of expertise and experiences brought together Sylvie Brunel (Sorbonne University, Paris, France), Wissal El Gharbaoui (Secretary General of the National Confederation of Tourism, Director of the Planeta Group, Rabat, Morocco), Younes Dbibirha, Provincial Tourism Delegate for Essaouira, Daniel Peyron (Expert and Tedqual auditor with the OMT, former CEO of Excelia Group La Rochelle, France), Olivier Dehoorne (Tourism Observatory – CTTSB, University of the West Indies) Bruno Sarrasin, University from Quebec to Montreal, as well as professors Hassan Faouzi and Mohamed Boukherouk.
For her side, the director of the Creative Tourism Network®, Caroline Couret spoke on the theme “Creative Tourism, anti-crisis tourism”.
In her presentation, Couret insisted on the fact that creative tourism was itself born of a crisis – the crisis of Fordist tourism – and that it has all the characteristics to arise from different types of crises, even to convert into a virtuous tourism model.
Through various examples of destinations around the world, Couret exposed the advantages of creative tourism, which enabled him not only to withstand the worst moments of the pandemic but also to lay the foundations for sustainable tourism models in a large number of destinations.
Indeed, the resilience of creative tourism is based first of all on the fact that it is designed to be offered and marketed on a reduced scale, corresponding to the “social bubbles” defined in the health protocols for the prevention of COVID19. The authenticity and profitability of the experience are thus guaranteed and can be adapted to an infinite number of traveler profiles. From the supply side, this tourism, in line with the circular economy, has demonstrated how co-creation between stakeholders from sectors as diverse as crafts, creative industries, agriculture and tourism industry, could create an ecosystem for the territories, in line with the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.
The relevant exchanges between the participants led to rich debates which will give rise to the publication in the journal Worldwide Hospitality and Tourism Themes (indexed Scopus).
