Festival rebound after the pandemic: visible and invisible growth
The festival and event industry was hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic. In 2020 there were only 155 festivals held – only 14% of the...
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Greg Richards
- Apr 11
- 3 min
The TikTok queue – a new global attraction
Residents and visitors in Amsterdam are used to seeing long queues for leading attractions in the city, such as the Anne Frank House or...
Greg Richards
- Mar 21
- 4 min
The rise of the creative underclass
In his book Culture Crash, Scott Timberg attacked Richard Florida’s notion of the ‘Creative Class’ acting as a driver of the economy,...
Greg Richards
- Mar 6
- 2 min
Event inflation: Shrinking anniversaries and pseudo-events
Celebrations are an important part of social life. So important in fact, that it seems we are less and less inclined to wait for...
Greg Richards
- Feb 20
- 2 min
Does Venice need digital nomads?
Venice is such a popular tourist destination that it has become the classic example used to illustrate problems of ‘overtourism’. The...
Greg Richards
- Feb 9
- 4 min
Killing the tourist gaze at the Tate Modern?
The Tate Modern art museum in London is one of the world’s most popular cultural tourism attractions, with 5.5 million visits a year. The...
Greg Richards
- Feb 1
- 2 min
Small Cities Dreaming of Street Art
Street art seems to be everywhere these days. Not just in the grimy back streets of major cities the world over, but increasingly in...
Greg Richards
- Jan 31
- 3 min
What does it take to build a human pyramid? A creative tourism experience in Girona
Through the Cultsense programme we have been introduced to a range of engaging cultural and creative tourism experiences across Europe....
Greg Richards
- Jan 22
- 1 min
Painting ‘tourists go home’ is not enough
As reported previously in this blog, since the pandemic gave way to a new flood of tourism arrivals in Barcelona, the city has been...
Greg Richards
- Sep 30, 2022
- 2 min
Tourists go home? They don't seem to be listening
Before the pandemic, Barcelona distinguished itself as the anti-tourism capital of Europe, with burning tourist busses and locals...
Greg Richards
- Aug 2, 2022
- 6 min
TikTok – tapping the funny side of travel?
The post-Covid era seems to be heralding a travel boom in many parts of the world, and with it a boom in the use of social media such as...
Greg Richards
- Jul 21, 2022
- 2 min
Attracting talent is no longer the easy option
Amsterdam has always prided itself on being an open, tolerant, welcoming city. It has long attracted talent from elsewhere to develop the...
Greg Richards
- Jul 12, 2022
- 2 min
Micro-placemaking: Turning roads into beaches
A recent article in the Guardian describes how residents of São Paulo turned an elevated roadway into a spot for sunbathing and other...
Greg Richards
- May 3, 2022
- 3 min
The ‘inside-out museum’ comes of age
Some museums will literally ‘turn themselves inside out’ in an attempt to attract visitors and media attention. The most spectacular...
Greg Richards
- Apr 6, 2022
- 2 min
The art of making hostels
A recent article in the Guardian newspaper heralded the opening of “the UK’s first art hostel” in Leeds. This was a bit surprising,...
Greg Richards
- Mar 15, 2022
- 3 min
What does post-pandemic tourism hold? From GOATs to hyperlocal travel
There is much speculation about the possible effects of the Covid pandemic on future tourism behaviour. Will more people decide to avoid...
Greg Richards
- Feb 21, 2022
- 3 min
It’s a dog’s life: Unexpected side effects of Corona
Do you find it increasingly challenging to avoid steaming piles of dog pooh? Do you have the feeling that dogs are barking more than they...
Greg Richards
- Feb 14, 2022
- 2 min
How do we replace 72 million lost jobs?
In recent decades tourism and the creative industries have been seen as major drivers of economic growth in both the developed and...
Greg Richards
- Jan 18, 2022
- 3 min
Cities and festivals: A lasting relationship?
Festivals and the cities that host them have close and dynamic relationships. In many cases the festival becomes the city, and vice...
Greg Richards
- Dec 20, 2021
- 3 min
The battle for Christmas business hots up
Many of us will be spending another restricted Christmas trying not to infect friends and family with Covid. But in spite of the looming...
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