Creative Tourism in Developing World: An Evaluation of Türkiye’s Creative Tourism Potential

1. Introduction

Although humanity has made many developments and advances in the historical process, today, it is chasing after a revolutionary concept. The effort to create individuals who internalize that concept and the race to maximize the benefits of the potential added value to their societies increase the concept’s importance much more. This concept, called creativity, can affect countries, businesses, and individuals. In addition, it is possible to find the answer to how all systems and processes can be made more effective within creativity.

Creativity is an intense concept that encompasses the notions of innovating, remaking and pioneering [1]. For an idea or product to be considered “creative,” it must fulfill two basic criteria: Being new and useful. The new criterion refers to what is originally unexpected, in other words, what has not been seen or done before, while having an intrinsic value fulfills the criterion of usefulness [2]. In this context, creative industries, creative regions, creative individuals, and ultimately creative cities are rapidly attracting the attention of policymakers, media, civil society organizations, private enterprises, and the “creative class” in general. People try to develop their creative potential by improving their production or consumption skills, following different certification programs and courses, or experiencing creativity in the holiday destinations they visit. Creativity is an end and a means to achieve diversity, economic returns, and originality [3].

While creativity is used in product development, it is still at an early research stage regarding tourism [4]. Tourism and creativity can be closely linked to integrating creative content into the tourism experience. The value-added impact of creativity on tourism is increasing by developing new markets, offering diversity to target audiences, improving destination image and competitiveness, and supporting the growth of creative industries. In this context, creative tourism, as a new approach to tourism development and marketing, expands the concept of tourism as a whole and enables the transition from traditional heritage-based cultural tourism models to new creative tourism models [5].

Creative tourism is considered a new direction for the tourism industry [6]. In particular, the worldwide economic and noneconomic crises make it necessary for many cities, regions, and countries to consider creative alternatives. Creative tourism and cities are greatly interested among policymakers, private enterprises, and researchers [7]. According to Richards and Raymond [8], creative tourism is a type of tourism in which tourists seek to unlock their creative potential through active participation in courses and learning opportunities in their destinations. The stakeholders of creative tourism—tourists, visitors, employees working in the facilities and residents living in the area—are all simultaneously structure the creative tourism place and thus maximize the value that can be derived from the experience of this area [9].

Creative tourism should be considered outside the classical practice and scope of mass tourism as it includes the fact that tourists who want to actively learn and have a participatory experience are in pursuit of the best service [6]. While mass tourism focuses on meeting general needs and expectations, the focus in creative tourism can be stated as self-improvement with the instinct to exist [10]. The main key point of creative tourism lies in recognizing the opportunity for tourists to contribute their cultural capital, expertise, experiences, and emotions to create their products [11]. Therefore, tourists who want to experience creative tourism seek the opportunity to learn and participate creatively in that region rather than seeing a restored architectural structure [6].

There is a rapidly developing creative tourism potential in the world. For example, there are 350 countries worldwide included in the UNESCO Creative Cities Network [12]. In this context, there are creative tourism cities worldwide, from Mexico to Japan, Russia to Australia, China to Thailand, and America to Germany, and tourists who prefer these cities create tourism mobility. While there is such a potential for creative tourism, there needs to be more evaluation of the issue, especially in developing countries. Creative tourism is an alternative not only for developed countries but also for developing countries such as Türkiye; it is necessary to analyze the potential of creative tourism. The main purpose of this book chapter is to address the issue of creative tourism, which is a breath of fresh air for the tourism industry. In this context, an evaluation of the potential of creative tourism has been made by taking Türkiye, which is one of the developing countries, as a case study. In the first part of the book chapter, creative cities are discussed, and the creative tourism movement and its impact on sustainable development are explained. The following part discusses Türkiye’s potential within the scope of creative cities. In the last part, the issue of supporting creative tourism development in Türkiye’s rural areas is evaluated.

2. Creative cities

Creativity is now a key strategic driver for destinations and regions seeking to become creative cities while at the same time enabling them to support creative industries as an attractive element. Therefore, adding creativity to tourism has become a common diversification strategy, especially in cultural tourism. Creativity, supported by culture, plays a central role in these discussions, and tourism is recognized as an important tool for implementing creative strategies [13]. Creativity is also attractive regarding networking to promote economic, cultural, and social outcomes, encouraging more creative activity through disseminating knowledge and providing a policy option [3]. Tourism is one of the most important industries for many reasons, such as the increase in people’s income levels and their willingness to be in different environments to socialize, the increase in the number of individuals who have gained economic freedom and technological developments, and the increase in close relations between countries. According to United Nations estimates, 3 billion people are expected to participate in tourism mobility by 2050, and the objectives of all the countries that stand out in the field of tourism to increase their share are at the forefront. As one of the ways that can be used to increase the share of this pie, creative tourism is an important and remarkable tool in this context.

Within the scope of creative tourism, many cities and regions have positioned themselves as “creative” in recent years. As a result of this development, “creative city” has now become a definition of UNESCO [13]. According to UNESCO, a creative city is defined as a city that places creative industries and culture at the heart of local development planning and actively cooperates at the international level [12]. The original idea of a creative city encourages cities to explore the aspects and areas that make them unique and special by focusing on creative industries and culture [14].

The idea of the creative city, based on the philosophy that there is much more potential in any city than meets the eye at first glance, emerged in the late 1980s. According to Charles Landry [3], who argues that creativity should be looked at from a broader perspective to solve urban problems within the scope of the creative city approach, the creative city is a call to action, as the twenty-first century is the century of cities. Creative city, as a new strategy, includes an approach to how people can think, plan, and act more creatively in the city they live in. It advocates an idea based on imagination and skills and involves designing, exploring, and creating. Therefore, the creative city aims to create a pool of ideas and thoughts rather than the expectation of providing a definite answer to questions and requests [14].

The creative city approach involves developing creative production and new governance systems that allow creativity to flourish. The idea of the creative city is based on being “creative for the world” and the idea that creativity can be encouraged or channeled in the creative industries and among all citizens in general [14]. Creative cities may have the functional utilization of, for example, a village mansion rather than the large and widespread artistic spaces offered by metropolitan cities. In this sense, a natural and ordinary activity such as making and learning about local products is much more important for tourists who want to experience creative tourism [15].

UNESCO established the UNESCO Creative Cities Network (UCCN) 2004 to promote cooperation between cities that recognize creativity as a strategic factor for sustainable urban development. Within the scope of this network, 350 countries worldwide work together to place creative industries and culture at the center of development plans at the local level within the framework of seven creative areas and to cooperate actively at the international level. The areas considered within the scope of creative tourism are crafts and folk art, film, gastronomy, literature, design, media arts, and music. Creative cities endeavor to gain a place in these seven categories. In this context, policymakers in the field of tourism should be expected to support the process by creating opportunities for tourists visiting creative tourism cities to produce their quotes and experiences, such as making perfume or experiencing porcelain painting [16].

3. Creative tourism movement and sustainable development

First of all, the concept of creative tourism has emerged as a new method in the protection of regional uniqueness with the elements of creativity in tourism as a field that has developed with the introduction of alternative tourism types, cuisine, literature, cinema, local products, and so on, as the center of tourism. Creative tourism destinations have become one of the most important issues of sustainable tourism because of the need to feed on local authenticity and protect authenticity in order to ensure sustainability in the long term.

Today, when the past is evaluated, it is possible to trace the history of creative tourism back to the 90s in parallel with the concept and types of alternative tourism that emerged with sustainable tourism. Accordingly, in addition to developing new products and services, the ideas developed to attract tourists to destinations and ensure their permanence laid the foundations of the creative tourism approach [17].

In addition to the destructive effects of tourism that have started to cause destinations to lose their characteristics, the change in the tourist profile and the demand for experience-oriented tourism activities have brought about a deep transformation in tourism. In addition, people who want to learn about local cultures, lives, clothing, culture, cuisine, and art have started to travel and put learning and discovery at the center of their travels. The need to respond to changing demands is the basis for approaches such as creative tourism to find a place for themselves. The realization of how destructive the negative effects of tourism can be in a short period, and the difficulty of reversing the deterioration of destinations has led to the necessity of developing new and protective methods that will enable tourism stakeholders, especially local governments, to maintain their relations with tourists. At this point, the mission of tourism to preserve the character of destinations, including their culture, people and nature, has become more important. Beyond selling culture, tourism has been accepted as an important element that will protect destinations’ character and regulate local culture’s productization and consumption [10].

With the recognition of the critical role of tourism, many tourism-based studies have been conducted on sustainable development, especially sustainable rural development, and the characteristics of tourism that may be suitable for this quality have been identified. In the context of creative tourism, it has been mentioned that tourism has tangible benefits such as protection of cultural capital and cultural heritage, sustainability, market development, and promotion of destinations [18]. At this point, authenticity is interpreted as an important reason for traveling in destination choice. Authenticity is supported by traditional values such as local cuisine, music, handicrafts, and clothing, as well as differentiated culinary experiences, cooking, presentation, and eating styles. The planning of destinations that will be subject to creative tourism within the framework of conservation policy will contribute to the continuity of culture by preserving authenticity and revealing and protecting the value of things that are not considered valuable in daily life [19]. At this point, as in other alternative tourism types, it is important that sustainability is accepted as a qualification template for creative tourism and that all decisions, including planning and implementation, are made based on sustainability. In other words, while creative tourism is a critical initiative that can support sustainability, it also has the potential to cause authenticity to disappear through excessive commercialization or to lose its original values under staged authenticity.

Creative tourism is generally implemented in two basic modes: (1) utilizing creativity as a tourist activity, (2) utilizing creativity as a backdrop for tourism [20]. The resulting creative products and services are developed as destination-based and creative tourism based on creative activities. Accordingly, Ohridska-Olson and Ivanov [18]:

• Creative tourism dependent on a specific destination refers to sustainable initiatives developed to build on and increase the awareness of a destination with cultural and creative potential and characteristics.

• Creative tourism, centered on creative activities, is about more than just what a destination already offers. It is about the potential for growth and improvement. It involves the development of products and services that not only increase the attractiveness of destinations but also extend the length of stay. These activities can be unique to a destination or can be new products and services designed to enhance the destination’s appeal.

Creative tourism involves commercializing tangible and intangible cultural values by transforming them into products and experiences within the scope of tourism [21]. The developed destinations or products and services in destinations become the attractions of the areas and support their transformation into experience-based areas. In addition to the uniqueness of destinations and what they offer, the personalization of the experiences to be gained also stands out as an important factor that increases the value of authenticity and increases the value of destinations [22]. In this context, creative product-services or destination developments based on authenticity gain importance regarding the authenticity of experiences and affect their preferability. Protecting authentic values through tourism forms the basis of a sustainable approach.

Creative cities or destinations can build their tourism strategies on two pillars within the scope of sustainability: a culture-based approach and an economy-based approach [23]. In the culture-based approach, a creative city is seen as a place where art, culture, and creativity develop strongly, where creativity is associated with identity, rights, beliefs, and social development. In the economy-based approach, creative cities are interpreted as places led by artists and arts organizations with strong, innovative, creative, competitive industries, and economic sustainability. These two distinctions provide the basis for determining the priorities of cities and the products and services offered. In both cases, social sustainability can be found, and the main goal is to ensure the sustainability of local development. However, determining whether the planning priority will be based on culture or economy is presented as the most important element that will reveal the character of the cities. When we qualitatively evaluate creative tourism in terms of sustainability, it can be said that it has several important advantages [20]:

• It can serve as a source for tourism activities and prepare the ground for general tourism activities,

• The creative development of tourism can make the existence and atmosphere of destinations sustainable,

• Creative tourism can become a business development tool for small businesses and local artists,

• It can support local people to express their creativity,

• It is a renewable tourism resource.

The validity of all these characteristics can be realized through the planning and management of destinations in the context of sustainability. Figure 1 summarizes linking creative tourism objectives with sustainability objectives [19].

According to Figure 1, social equality, economic development, and environmentalism are the main goals of sustainability, and the goals of the people, tourism businesses, and tourists in creative destinations are completely interconnected. Thus, providing spaces and opportunities for the transfer of local symbols and experiences, facilitating the reproduction and consumption of the area, experiencing local traditions, and developing and offering areas suitable for the use of creative talents in destinations are elements that will contribute to the development of economic development, social justice and equality, and environmentalism if planned correctly. In other words, planning and creating creative products, services, and related experience opportunities is possible based on social, economic, and environmental development. If this is achieved, it is possible to discuss sustainable creative destinations.

As in every type of tourism, it would not be correct to claim that all creative tourism practices are directly sustainable, nor would it be correct to label all creative destinations as sustainable. On the other hand, within the scope of creative tourism resources, cultural and unique elements in the regions should be brought into tourism through productization. In this way, it emerges from areas that have a high potential to be sustainable and, at the same time, must be sustainable.

4. Creative tourism potential of Türkiye

Creative cities have the potential to be one of the important arguments supporting the preservation of cities’ sociocultural values through tourism and recreation in developing countries such as Türkiye. As it is known, Türkiye is one of the countries with a rich cultural diversity that has hosted many civilizations throughout history. Since 2015, eight cities in Türkiye have joined the Creative Cities Network, and their values have been protected. Cities are presented in Table 1.

The explanations for the creative cities in Türkiye shown in Table 1 are presented below.

5. Development support of creative tourism in rural parts of Türkiye

Sustainable development simply involves a process of development and advocates the view that society interacts with the environment and does not harm any resources for the future [44]. The first significant effort to put forward sustainable development at the global level was made by the Brundtland Commission in 1987 [45]. According to the Brundtland Commission (World Commission on Environment and Development) definition, which is the most cited definition for sustainable development, it means meeting the needs of current generations while not compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs [46]. This definition includes a process in which the citizens of any country improve their level of living and meet their necessary needs without wasting the resources of future generations to meet their immediate needs and demands [45].

According to Shi et al. [47], sustainable development is a fundamental strategy guiding the social and economic transformation of the world. In this sense, sustainable development theory emerged in the 1980s with a focus on the coordinated development of the economy, society, and the environment and entered the high-level political agenda. Sustainable development theory has evolved through practice and is not separated from the implementation of relevant policies for sustainable development. Today, sustainable development theory has become an integral part of the agenda of governments and companies [47]. For developed and developing countries aiming for social and economic change in the context of sustainable development theory, the tourism industry has a fundamental locomotive role. The tourism industry, which can be considered as a chimneyless industry, is of great importance for a developing country like Türkiye. In this context, the main goal is to popularize alternative tourism types such as creative tourism, especially in rural areas, in order to provide diversity in tourism.

If we make an assessment of the situation from the perspective of Türkiye, creative tourism has become an important alternative whose economic, social, and ecological effects as well as cultural effects have started to be seen concretely. The diffusion of the effects shows that creative tourism practices through creative cities have started to turn into an important input of sustainable tourism development and especially sustainable rural tourism development process beyond creating alternative tourism destinations for Türkiye. When evaluated in the context of sustainable development theory, the impacts of creative tourism that will support Türkiye’s rural development inspired by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals [48] can be summarized as follows:

• Ensuring the participation of disadvantaged groups in employment: In the cities mentioned for Türkiye, it provides the legal inclusion of minorities and migrants in the economy. Accordingly, it becomes a practice that contributes to both the country and local entrepreneurs by transforming them into a qualified labor force. It can also be instrumental in preventing possible conflicts and violent incidents by transforming migrants into skilled workers. At this point, it should be noted that the support offered to local employment should be allowed.

  In addition, it seems possible in the short term to include biologically and physiologically disadvantaged groups, such as disabled and Down syndrome personnel, in festivals, events, businesses, and museums in creative cities. Establishing and operating cafes in different parts of Türkiye to produce and serve local delicacies, especially for people with Down syndrome, is one example that will directly ensure their active participation in the process.

• Ensuring women’s participation in socioeconomic life: Women’s participation in socio-economic life, which is one of the important arguments of alternative tourism types, especially in undeveloped and developing countries where women’s rights are lagging, is actively functioning, especially in creative cities, known as gastronomy cities. Organizing training and providing incentives to diversify women’s services and ensure that they are involved in artistic fields with a cultural base will be an important step in guaranteeing social development in rural areas. Accordingly, women’s economic freedom will be realized by preserving authentic cultural values, and one of the most important obstacles to achieving gender equality will be overcome.

• Protecting ecological values and supporting ecological city initiatives: Sustainable development combines economic, environmental, and sociocultural development. In some of the creative city examples in Türkiye, considering this relationship has led to protecting ecological values as the next step after ensuring economic mobility and preserving unique cultural values and cuisine. In this way, the last link of sustainable tourism development has been completed, and it is now possible to talk about a holistic development process. As the next step, transforming creative cities into green cities and, if possible, into smart-eco cities without losing their original values will support an important sustainable transformation in rural Türkiye.

• Diversification of cultural activities: Cultural values such as clothing style, food culture, handicrafts, music, and so on are transformed into products and services and subject to tourism. Culinary culture and music are the most effective ways of achieving this through businesses, festivals, concerts and events. If planned and implemented correctly, diversifying the types and sizes of events paves the way for the income from commercialized values to be spread to the base. It also facilitates the diversification of touristic products and, of course, the expansion of tourism to 12 months.

• Increasing international communication and interaction: Creative cities have the potential to create an atmosphere of tolerance and easy communication as they attract people who come together around cultural and artistic events. In Türkiye, national and international events pave the way for communication and interaction within Türkiye and between outsiders and locals, thus supporting the spread of a culture of tolerance. With their social and artistic character, creative cities are becoming one of the alternatives that support the revival of one of the oldest missions of tourism, which has become passive over time due to the emphasis on economic importance.

The type of creativity that cities have chosen to express themselves has also formed the basis for the development of destinations that have been mentioned within the scope of alternative tourism for many years by preserving their values. The mobilization and development of local economies, the protection of cultural and artistic values with touristic products and services, the introduction of cultural and artistic values to foreigners and their transfer to future generations by remaining faithful to their essence, as well as the effort to contribute to global warming, ecological costs, and the protection of the environmental values of the regions with new initiatives, show that an important step has been taken in the field of sustainable tourism development. The long-term success of Türkiye and developing countries like Türkiye in sustainable tourism development through creative tourism and the achievement of utopian sociocultural, ecological, and economic growth seems to depend on active stakeholder collaboration, openness to education and innovation, respect for and embrace of authentic and environmental values, and finally a commitment to social equity and justice. In other words, it depends on the sustainability of what has been done.

Einali et al. [49] presents a model proposal for sustainable rural development based on creative tourism. Accordingly, it is seen that creative rural tourism is created from the combination of all the economic inputs that will emerge, including creative industries, creative products, and art and cultural impacts, with the creative class as the tools to be used in the realization of ideas, consisting of innovation and social and human capital, which are necessary for the emergence of creative tourism. In other words, combining creative ideas and the initiatives that bring these ideas to life and turn them into economic returns into products and services forms the basis of creative rural tourism. Shaping this process with a sustainable perspective and perception will ensure that all creative tourism practices are sustainable. In addition, the success of leadership and management, local cooperation and active participation, risk-taking, innovation skills, and flexibility are interpreted as elements that support the sustainability of the process. In other words, the right blend of creative ideas and creative economies with promoters shapes the sustainable character of tourism. What is important at this point is the need for the process to be carried out successfully to reflect the sustainable perspective mentioned when discussing creative tourism in rural Türkiye.

6. Conclusion

The most important feature that distinguishes humanity from other creatures in nature is the ability to create abstract ideas in the intellectual sense and to gather around these ideas or concretize the abstract ideas created. This ability of human beings is at the basis of surviving at first, then surviving together and being able to act together by establishing societies. Creativity has shown itself at the most critical times throughout history and kept humanity alive. On the other hand, as a reflection of human and social diversity, it has also ensured that artistic and cultural diversity has been left to history.

Tourism has embodied creative ideas from the very beginning, and over time, creativity has been attributed to a vital role in tourism to find alternative ways due to the increase in competition, on the one hand, and the deepening of the negative effects of tourism, on the other. Creativity has been at the heart of survival throughout human history and has again assumed a vital role in developing ways to protect human and ecological values. Although, for many years, leisure has been associated with tourism, the idea of sustainability has emphasized and supported tourism’s educational, interactional, and conservation aspects. Creative tourism and creative cities have given tourism a critical mission in preserving the artistic and cultural capacities of countries and regions and have been mediated in revitalizing local economies by transforming local values into economic inputs.

Considering the place of creative tourism in the developing world and especially its prominent role in the tourism sector, it is possible to make an assessment that Türkiye can be an important destination. As a result of our in-depth literature review, it has been observed that Türkiye has a rich creative tourism potential. In this context, Türkiye has been involved in the process with its deep-rooted history and rich cultural dynamics and is currently included in the creative cities network with eight cities. Türkiye is positioned as one of the important destinations in the fields of gastronomy, music, and traditional handicrafts among the seven different fields identified by UNESCO as creative tourism. In addition to experiencing gastronomic delicacies in Gaziantep, Hatay, and Afyonkarahisar, which offer the opportunity to announce Turkish cuisine to the world within the framework of creative tourism, testing and experiencing traditional handicrafts, which are the representatives of an endless journey, in Bursa and Kütahya, which are very different from other countries, can be evaluated in terms of Türkiye’s advantageous aspects. On the other hand, experiencing the distinctive and inimitable musical genres and instruments, which reflect Turkish culture and are unique to this culture, in Kırşehir and Şanlıurfa offers very different opportunities to the subjects participating in creative tourism. Finally, the city of Istanbul, which was founded on two continents and was the capital of very different cultures, such as the Byzantine and the Ottoman, offers Türkiye a unique advantage over other developed and developing countries in terms of the opportunity to experience guests who prefer creative tourism under the discipline of Design. Türkiye is an important and remarkable destination within the scope of this diversity.

The development support perspective discussed in the relevant sections of this book chapter and the authority responsible for the cities concerned and for tourism in general should emphasize creative tourism and creative cities. Planning environmental policies with a focus on sustainable development and development will not only bring potential creative cities to the forefront but also support the branding process. Together with all other stakeholders, including public authority, private enterprise, nongovernmental organizations, and local people, it should be among the priority targets to both protect and enrich the creative tourism potential and increase its promotion. In this way, Türkiye will be able to take a much larger share of the global creative tourism pie and become the leader it deserves.

The values of cities such as Trabzon, Rize, Artvin, and Mardin, which are not yet included in the scope of creative tourism potential, should be carefully monitored and supported to ensure that Türkiye can be the only destination in the world in the field of creative tourism in the future. Sustainable development theory is the primary goal of both countries and businesses. In this context, determining the creative tourism potential as a sustainable development goal is of vital importance for today’s countries and businesses. Diversifying local economies; enabling disadvantaged groups, especially women, to gain economic freedom; and rediscovering the values of elements that face the threat of being forgotten due to the monotony in economies and ensuring that they can become one of the important inputs of production in the regions will bring about sustainable development in every aspect. When the examples of creative cities put forward in this context are examined, it is possible that the creative tourism trend can be an important sustainability prescription for the seven regions of Türkiye, and ensuring that it is diversified and spread to all regions paves the way for sustainable rural tourism development without experiencing the difficulties of creating a new prescription.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.