Chapter 10: Cultural Routes — From Cultural to Creative Tourism

There are more than one thousand sites on the UNESCO World Heritage List, and in the last two decades the number of museums in some countries has doubled (Council of Europe: 2011). In a period of globalization, in which tourism destinations become increasingly similar to each other, with authenticity being the key branding element, heritage, culture and creative industries have become extremely important for attracting tourists and initiating local economic development. This is also supported by the fact that modern tourists do not like being mere observers, they prefer learning and exploring while traveling. Therefore, the increasingly present experience economy and dream economy offer some creative experiences and stories instead of the usual simple tourist services (Jensen, 2001)…