PUBLICATIONS
A report for the United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG) network, including case studies of Amsterdam, Barcelona, Copenhagen, Lisbon, Montreal and Rome.
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A study for the UNWTO and European Travel Commission on the growing integration of tourism and culture in cities.
A review of cultural tourism supply, demand and policy developed from the ATLAS Cultural Tourism Research Project.
A special issue on the quantitative and qualitative measurement of event experiences from the ATLAS Events Group
An evaluation of the cultural, economic, social and image impacts of the European Capital of Culture in 2007.
Creative Tourism Business Models
An analysis of business models in the field of creative tourism, published in the Journal of Hospitality and Tourism.
Eventful Cities provides theoretical perspectives and practical examples of the dynamic relationship between cities and events around the world.
Rethinking authenticity
An open access paper in Annals of Tourism research on the production and consumption of authentic experiences through the lens of complexity theory.
Papers from the ATLAS Conference in 2021, analysing differetn aspects of the relationships between festivals, cities and tourism
"This work is among the most articulate and persuasive in bringing together a number
of concepts and threads to chart a new path. Richards is successful in suggesting and illustrating an approach that embraces many of the current ideas that are floating around in the literature and that, to my knowledge, have not previously been brought together and linked in a simple, readily understandable,
logical fashion. This is a considerable achievement, and it makes the book important reading for those interested in tourism, as well as those concerned about other fields that engage with tourism, such as heritage." (Review by Geoff Wall)
This study aimed to determine the motivations of a select group of South Africans in terms of their potential engagement with cultural tourism; more specifically, the study set out to show whether these motivations influence the cultural activities that the tourists want to participate in and whether their interest in specific cultural activities determines their destination choices. Furthermore, the mediating role of activities in the relationship between cultural motivations and destination choice was also assessed.
Millennials as potential creative tourists in South Africa: A CHAID approach to market segmentation
Creative tourism has recently emerged as an important area of tourism development, particularly in the Global North. In the Global South, studies of the profile of creative tourists and their motives for partaking in creative tourism are limited. This paper investigates creative tourism demand among South African millennials, analysing what motivates their participation and developing a descriptive consumer profile. CHAID analysis was used for segmentation, revealing a group with a high participation intention and a second group with a low probability of creative tourism participation. Creative tourism intentions were linked to knowledge acquisition, skills and escape motivations, and demographic characteristics including relationship status and gender. Respondents were more likely to participate in domestic rather than international creative tourism, indicating the potential for creative tourism development in South Africa. The findings could help managers and policymakers meet the needs of creative tourists, addressing shortfalls in product development, experience design and marketing.
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China’s pre-pandemic national-level planning advocated a combination of culture and tourism to advance growth in the Greater Bay Area (GBA) mega-region. Culture is seen as increasing regional cohesion, with multi-destination travel products connecting subregions and cities. This paper examines perceptions of progress towards a coherent GBA cultural identity and its implications for tourism. We examine tourism stakeholder perceptions of the GBA, assess the prospects for the development of collective identities in the region and assess the prospects for implementation of the GBA brand. Surveys and interviews with stakeholders indicate that the prevalent top-down planning approach has so far generated limited regional coherence and may also be limiting bottom-up placemaking initiatives. Debordering between Hong Kong, Macao and the mainland cities offers opportunities for tourism development, but these have so far been limited, also because of intensifying competition between mainland GBA cities in international markets, challenging the implementation of an umbrella brand. Regional stakeholders so far show little buy-in to the overarching ‘quality living circle’ concept for the GBA. New governance structures may be to support the development of a coherent regional identity and generate place leadership to successfully combine top-down and bottom-up placemaking initiatives.