What if we stopped talking about tourism?

What if, instead, we started talking about curiosity, empathy, artistic passion, transformative experiences – in other words, going back to the very essence of travel, and get to know the Other as well as ourselves?
Then, tourism would merely be the industry in charge of logistical issues and providing material, technological, and human means to people who are searching for discovery and meaningful experiences. Technologies and architecture would be both the resources and the products of human innovation in all its glory, all over the world. They would be a way to connect, amaze, and excel.

In this context, humans stop being intermediaries between tourists and heritage. They become the heritage themselves.

As utopic as it sounds when talking about an industry, this idea is nothing but today’s reality – or at least, what’s next for the tourism sector, where we witness a growing trend towards intangible values, which creates a demand that is as unique as it is versatile.
If this is indeed today’s reality, then it’s urgent to become aware of it – such disruption isn’t easily manageable. This paradigm shift requires us to speak with travellers, to really listen to them, so that we understand their specific needs and desires and can fulfil them properly.
This creates new challenges, including working and cooperating with all tourism players at all levels – “dream-makers”, artisans, artists, and anyone who feels fulfilled by sharing their knowledge and traditions.

It is worth it. Opportunities, in terms of knowledge development, territorial dynamization, attractivity, and sustainability are endless. Besides the specific demand that generated it in the first place (Richards, Raymond, 2000), creative tourism is now becoming the Swiss army knife of this new form of tourism, where creativity, destination management, and territorial dynamization are so intertwined.
It is, in a way, a common instrument for new economies, such as experiential, creative, circular, knowledge and intangible economies, among others.

The list of new words and ideas for tourism experiences grows longer by the day – “experiential tourism”, “transformational tourism”, “slow tourism”… But the message remains the same: we need to stop talking about tourism and start betting on the human dimension. Let’s aim for sustainability and universal friendship.

– Caroline COURET, Director of the Creative Tourism Network®.

Et si nous ne parlions plus de tourisme ? Si nous parlions de curiosité, d’empathie, de passion artistique, d’expériences transformatrices, en somme, de l’essence du voyage, celle qui permet de connaître l’Autre et se connaître soi-même ?

Le tourisme ne serait alors que l’industrie qui se responsabilise des questions logistiques en mettant à la disposition d’individus en quête de découverte et de sens, des ressources matérielles, technologiques, mais surtout humaines.  Les technologies et l’architecture seraient à la fois des ressources et le résultat de l’innovation humaine, sous toutes ses formes, en tous points du globe. Un moyen de connecter, d’étonner, de se surpasser.  Au sein de cette nouvelle configuration, l’humain n’est plus seulement l’intermédiaire entre les touristes et le patrimoine, il est lui-même le patrimoine.

Cette introduction, aussi utopique semble-t-elle, n’est autre que la réalité actuelle ou tout au moins, le futur proche du secteur touristique, où on constate une tendance croissante vers des valeurs toujours plus immatérielles, et qui se traduit par une demande aussi plurielle que versatile.
S’il s’agit bien de la réalité, il est urgent d’en prendre conscience, car une telle disruption n’est pas de gestion aisée. Elle suppose et impose d’écouter les voyageurs, de converser avec eux afin de connaître la spécificité de leur demande et bien sûr, de la satisfaire. Cela fait apparaître de nouveaux défis, notamment celui de travailler avec les nouveaux acteurs du tourisme, tous ces “dream-makers”, artisans, artistes, ainsi que toute personne qui se sente accomplie en partageant ses savoirs et ses traditions.

Mais cela vaut vraiment la peine, car les opportunités sont grandes en termes de développement des connaissances, dynamisation du territoire, attractivité, durabilité, et toute la chaîne de valeur qui se créé. Le tourisme créatif, au delà de la demande spécifique qui le définit originellement (Richards, Raymond 2000), s’offre désormais comme le couteau suisse de ce nouveau tourisme, qui met la créativité au service de la gestion des destinations et du développement des territoires. Il est en quelque sorte un instrument commun des économies récentes, telle que l’économie de l’expérience, l’économie du savoir et de l’immatériel, l’économie créative, l’économie circulaire, pour ne citer que quelques-unes.

Et puisqu’il s’agit de terminologie: “tourisme de savoir-faire”, “tourisme expérientiel”, “tourisme transformationel”… la liste est longue et s’accroît un peu plus chaque jour, mais le message reste le même : misons sur l’humain, sur la différence et sur le local, pour toucher l’universel et garantir la durabilité.

– Caroline COURET, Directrice du Creative Tourism Network®.

What if we stopped talking about tourism?

What if, instead, we started talking about curiosity, empathy, artistic passion, transformative experiences – in other words, going back to the very essence of travel, and get to know the Other as well as ourselves?
Then, tourism would merely be the industry in charge of logistical issues and providing material, technological, and human means to people who are searching for discovery and meaningful experiences. Technologies and architecture would be both the resources and the products of human innovation in all its glory, all over the world. They would be a way to connect, amaze, and excel.

In this context, humans stop being intermediaries between tourists and heritage. They become the heritage themselves.

As utopic as it sounds when talking about an industry, this idea is nothing but today’s reality – or at least, what’s next for the tourism sector, where we witness a growing trend towards intangible values, which creates a demand that is as unique as it is versatile.
If this is indeed today’s reality, then it’s urgent to become aware of it – such disruption isn’t easily manageable. This paradigm shift requires us to speak with travellers, to really listen to them, so that we understand their specific needs and desires and can fulfil them properly.
This creates new challenges, including working and cooperating with all tourism players at all levels – “dream-makers”, artisans, artists, and anyone who feels fulfilled by sharing their knowledge and traditions.

It is worth it. Opportunities, in terms of knowledge development, territorial dynamization, attractivity, and sustainability are endless. Besides the specific demand that generated it in the first place (Richards, Raymond, 2000), creative tourism is now becoming the Swiss army knife of this new form of tourism, where creativity, destination management, and territorial dynamization are so intertwined.
It is, in a way, a common instrument for new economies, such as experiential, creative, circular, knowledge and intangible economies, among others.

The list of new words and ideas for tourism experiences grows longer by the day – “experiential tourism”, “transformational tourism”, “slow tourism”… But the message remains the same: we need to stop talking about tourism and start betting on the human dimension. Let’s aim for sustainability and universal friendship.

– Caroline COURET, Director of the Creative Tourism Network®.

What if we stopped talking about tourism?

What if, instead, we started talking about curiosity, empathy, artistic passion, transformative experiences – in other words, going back to the very essence of travel, and get to know the Other as well as ourselves?
Then, tourism would merely be the industry in charge of logistical issues and providing material, technological, and human means to people who are searching for discovery and meaningful experiences. Technologies and architecture would be both the resources and the products of human innovation in all its glory, all over the world. They would be a way to connect, amaze, and excel.

In this context, humans stop being intermediaries between tourists and heritage. They become the heritage themselves.

As utopic as it sounds when talking about an industry, this idea is nothing but today’s reality – or at least, what’s next for the tourism sector, where we witness a growing trend towards intangible values, which creates a demand that is as unique as it is versatile.
If this is indeed today’s reality, then it’s urgent to become aware of it – such disruption isn’t easily manageable. This paradigm shift requires us to speak with travellers, to really listen to them, so that we understand their specific needs and desires and can fulfil them properly.
This creates new challenges, including working and cooperating with all tourism players at all levels – “dream-makers”, artisans, artists, and anyone who feels fulfilled by sharing their knowledge and traditions.

It is worth it. Opportunities, in terms of knowledge development, territorial dynamization, attractivity, and sustainability are endless. Besides the specific demand that generated it in the first place (Richards, Raymond, 2000), creative tourism is now becoming the Swiss army knife of this new form of tourism, where creativity, destination management, and territorial dynamization are so intertwined.
It is, in a way, a common instrument for new economies, such as experiential, creative, circular, knowledge and intangible economies, among others.

The list of new words and ideas for tourism experiences grows longer by the day – “experiential tourism”, “transformational tourism”, “slow tourism”… But the message remains the same: we need to stop talking about tourism and start betting on the human dimension. Let’s aim for sustainability and universal friendship.

– Caroline COURET, Director of the Creative Tourism Network®.

What if we stopped talking about tourism?

What if, instead, we started talking about curiosity, empathy, artistic passion, transformative experiences – in other words, going back to the very essence of travel, and get to know the Other as well as ourselves?
Then, tourism would merely be the industry in charge of logistical issues and providing material, technological, and human means to people who are searching for discovery and meaningful experiences. Technologies and architecture would be both the resources and the products of human innovation in all its glory, all over the world. They would be a way to connect, amaze, and excel.

In this context, humans stop being intermediaries between tourists and heritage. They become the heritage themselves.

As utopic as it sounds when talking about an industry, this idea is nothing but today’s reality – or at least, what’s next for the tourism sector, where we witness a growing trend towards intangible values, which creates a demand that is as unique as it is versatile.
If this is indeed today’s reality, then it’s urgent to become aware of it – such disruption isn’t easily manageable. This paradigm shift requires us to speak with travellers, to really listen to them, so that we understand their specific needs and desires and can fulfil them properly.
This creates new challenges, including working and cooperating with all tourism players at all levels – “dream-makers”, artisans, artists, and anyone who feels fulfilled by sharing their knowledge and traditions.

It is worth it. Opportunities, in terms of knowledge development, territorial dynamization, attractivity, and sustainability are endless. Besides the specific demand that generated it in the first place (Richards, Raymond, 2000), creative tourism is now becoming the Swiss army knife of this new form of tourism, where creativity, destination management, and territorial dynamization are so intertwined.
It is, in a way, a common instrument for new economies, such as experiential, creative, circular, knowledge and intangible economies, among others.

The list of new words and ideas for tourism experiences grows longer by the day – “experiential tourism”, “transformational tourism”, “slow tourism”… But the message remains the same: we need to stop talking about tourism and start betting on the human dimension. Let’s aim for sustainability and universal friendship.

– Caroline COURET, Director of the Creative Tourism Network®.

What if we stopped talking about tourism?

What if, instead, we started talking about curiosity, empathy, artistic passion, transformative experiences – in other words, going back to the very essence of travel, and get to know the Other as well as ourselves?
Then, tourism would merely be the industry in charge of logistical issues and providing material, technological, and human means to people who are searching for discovery and meaningful experiences. Technologies and architecture would be both the resources and the products of human innovation in all its glory, all over the world. They would be a way to connect, amaze, and excel.

In this context, humans stop being intermediaries between tourists and heritage. They become the heritage themselves.

As utopic as it sounds when talking about an industry, this idea is nothing but today’s reality – or at least, what’s next for the tourism sector, where we witness a growing trend towards intangible values, which creates a demand that is as unique as it is versatile.
If this is indeed today’s reality, then it’s urgent to become aware of it – such disruption isn’t easily manageable. This paradigm shift requires us to speak with travellers, to really listen to them, so that we understand their specific needs and desires and can fulfil them properly.
This creates new challenges, including working and cooperating with all tourism players at all levels – “dream-makers”, artisans, artists, and anyone who feels fulfilled by sharing their knowledge and traditions.

It is worth it. Opportunities, in terms of knowledge development, territorial dynamization, attractivity, and sustainability are endless. Besides the specific demand that generated it in the first place (Richards, Raymond, 2000), creative tourism is now becoming the Swiss army knife of this new form of tourism, where creativity, destination management, and territorial dynamization are so intertwined.
It is, in a way, a common instrument for new economies, such as experiential, creative, circular, knowledge and intangible economies, among others.

The list of new words and ideas for tourism experiences grows longer by the day – “experiential tourism”, “transformational tourism”, “slow tourism”… But the message remains the same: we need to stop talking about tourism and start betting on the human dimension. Let’s aim for sustainability and universal friendship.

– Caroline COURET, Director of the Creative Tourism Network®.