December 11 th  marks 40 years since the launch of the campaign ‘Barcelona, posa’t guapa’ (Barcelona, make yourself beautiful). This urban renovation programme coincided with the preparations for the 1992 Olympic Games, the event that propelled the city onto the world stage. At that point, the writer Manuel Vázquez Montalbán recalled that the city was like “a sunken Titanic”.  (in Ferrer Viana, 2001: 16)17. The Barcelona, posa’t guapa  campaign had two main elements: renovat

Wendy Morrill and I recently wrote a piece for the Good Tourism Blog, charting the possible effects of the 'intention economy' - the idea that AI will soon know what you want before you do. This is significant because of the growing range of experiences we have to choose from. Algorithmic curation is already being applied in many fields: for example, 70% of the videos watched on YouTube are now selected for us by algorithms. Some of the implications of the growing curation t

A recent report  by Growth Market Reports indicates that the ‘creative tourism’ market was worth almost $90 billion in 2024, and is projected to grow at over 8% a year from 2025 to 2033. This would make creative tourism worth a whopping $176 billion by the end of 2033. Just a minute….isn’t creative tourism a niche market? Actively engaging with arts and crafts on holiday is a growing trend Yes, indeed, but it depends how you define it, and how you measure it. The Growth Marke

Carnival has begun! – at least in the Netherlands and Germany, where November 11th marks the start of the Carnival season. At 11 minutes past 11, to be precise. There are various explanations of origins of this apparently strange timing, including the co-incidence with the timing of the end of the First World War. But the most logical explanation seems to be that 11 is the ‘fool’s number’, stuck between the more usual 10 and 12. Carnival season 2026 is open! Whatever the expl

A new twist on the local-tourist debate in Amsterdam is marked by this ironic sticker appearing in the city centre. Tensions around the growing number of ex-pats in the city have been rising as housing shortages have sharpened and populist anti-migrant sentiment has grown. Amsterdam is particularly popular as an ex-pat destination because of the widespread use of English, the open and tolerant nature of the city and the varied cultural scene. Officially, the city is still ope

One of the common strategies to deal with the challenges of touristification in destinations such as Barcelona has been to push for ‘quality tourism’. The idea is that fewer tourists can generate just as much economic benefit, as long as they spend more. Alongside attracting tourists who stay longer and spend more, Barcelona’s strategy now aims to spread tourism throughout Catalunya, easing pressure on the city itself. Quality tourism? Recent figures indicate that tourist arr

There was a time when just going to the Alpujarras, with their picturesque white villages nestling in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada in Andalusia, was enough for a fulfilling holiday. Those days are long gone, as travellers increasingly seek meaning and fulfilment from their holidays. A writer from the Guardian discovered as much when invited to sample a ‘wild clay ceramics retreat’ at Las Mecías , a “regenerative farm & experiential guesthouse in the Alpujarras”. If this

A recent exhibition in Amsterdam highlighted the disappearance of the rough edges of the city in the face of continuing development. These ‘free spaces’ have offered havens for creativity, alternative lifestyles and sustainability programmes. Many of these locations around the fringes of Amsterdam have operated as cultural incubators, allowing artists to thrive and providing a base for experimental events and happenings. As we pointed out in a recent study of event space in A

You thought Lego was just for kids? Think again.   Lego has been co-creating with adult makers for years, developing a worldwide network...

If you want to get away from it all, there are few better places than the middle of the Baltic sea. Bornholm, a tiny Danish island closer...

We all think we know what ‘local’ means. Usually, it is tied to people who live in a particular place, and we usually assume that the...

Sail Amsterdam  has just closed after 5 days of hosting over 10,000 ships and 2.5 million visitors in the city centre. Large scale urban...

One of the most enduring tourism myths is the idea that cultural tourism is growing faster than other sectors of global tourism. Ever...

We reported a while ago on the negative effect of the Trump Administration on inbound arrivals to the USA , but it seems there is a...

Music festivals are in trouble. All over the place. We were first alerted to this by an article in the Dutch media, highlighting the...

The Guardian  called the newly-opened V&A East Storehouse in the Olympic Park in London ‘The national museum of absolutely everything’ . ...

A recent report from the European Commission highlights the role of cultural and creative tourism in conserving Europe's rich heritage...

The concept of street art tends to evoke images of inner city streets decorated with murals. But increasingly the practice of street art...

As the experience economy has developed, the range and variety of experiences on offer has become overwhelming. This is good news if you...

The news that the UK is attempting to gain UNESCO intangible heritage of humanity status for cask beer (yes, the warm stuff from the...