This theoretical paper conceptualises the role of tourism providers in facilitating creative tourism experiences by focusing on their ingenious enterprise, which we argue can help capture the tourism potential of intangible archaeological heritage. Intangible archaeological heritage can be understood as knowledge emanating from actors' own interpretation of archaeological sites that have either become physically inaccessible or been destroyed since initial exploration. Archaeological heritage is often equated with tangibility, which results in an omission of experiences that intangible archaeological heritage can offer. By proposing a rethinking of the archaeological tourism framework, we argue that the touristic value of both tangible and intangible archaeological heritage is better realised and can be further utilised to study the easily overlooked aspect of providers' ingenuity. HIGHLIGHTS  Archaeological tourism fails to capture the intangibility of archaeological heritage  Creative tourism is proposed as a more suitable framework for archaeological tourism  Co-creation between tourists and providers is central to achieving creative tourism  A proposed framework underlines providers' creativity in delivering memorable experiences

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This paper discusses the impact of co-creation in the context of heritage tourism. By examining co-creative strategies that promote participative interpretation of archaeological heritage, the emphasis is on understanding how tour guides balance tourists' individual interpretations and the scientific narrative. The study conducts a qualitative analysis of the tour guiding activity of cultural tourism companies in Alentejo, Southern Portugal. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with local tour guides and from online reviews of archaeological tours in Alentejo. Findings evidence that despite widely employing co-creative strategies for heritage interpretation that tap into tourists' operant resources and encourage creative discussion, tour guides often dismiss individual interpretations in favour of the established authorized heritage discourse. It is argued that, in doing so, the potential of co-creation for delivering a meaningful experience is hindered. The study contributes towards a critical conceptualization of the use of co-creation strategies in heritage tourism, with particular focus on the implications at deeper meaningmaking levels. In practice, the findings can lead cultural tourism providers to reassess their approach to personalization in order to increase their appeal to potential clients holding alternative sets of beliefs and motivations.

The paper discusses conditions and format of a cluster model to support the management of a potential creative tourism destination in a setting where regional cross-sectoral collaboration is lacking. Creative tourism development requires a flexible framework and healthy collaboration environment, more so when associated to resources shared by several stakeholders. This article focuses on the tourism potential of archaeological knowledge discovered during the environmental impact assessment of the Alqueva dam (Alentejo, Portugal). Interviews were conducted with 38 regional actors in the tourism and heritage sectors, as well as the dam developers and the companies responsible for archaeological interventions. Findings indicate that the lack of specific local policy addressing archaeological heritage hampers its potential use for tourism development, which is further aggravated by the absence of stakeholder communication and cooperation. A conceptual cluster model for the management of creative tourism destination based on heritage resources and other local resources is proposed.

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