Creative tourism and creative spectacles in China

Creative tourism and visitor motivation

“…This research focuses on three of these creative cities: Chengdu (city of gastronomy), Jingdezhen (city of crafts and folk art), and Shanghai (city of design). Building on recent studies that have explored creative tourism‐related activities in popular creative spaces/spectacles within these and other cities (Li & Kovacs, 2021, 2022), this paper investigates the travel motivations of tourists who had visited creative spaces in Chengdu (Moon Village) and Jingdezhen (Ceramic Art Avenue) as well as creative spectacles in Shanghai (Shanghai Design Week).…”

“…As such, in this research, we sought to first confirm whether our potential interviewees, who had visited creative spaces/spectacles, self‐identified as creative tourists. To do so, we contacted previous tourists to the targeted study sites whose comments on travel blog websites were analysed in our previous research (Li & Kovacs, 2021, 2022). In total, 33 tourists, who had recorded their creative experiences on travel blogs, were contacted through the chatting function of the travel blog platforms for potential interviews.…”

“…Although few studies have explored the motivation of tourists who have visited creative tourism destinations, the extant literature has indirectly indicated potential factors that may serve to motivate tourists to visit particular creative spaces (Booyens & Rogerson, 2015, 2019Li & Kovacs, 2022) and creative events (Bakas et al, 2019;Cloke, 2007;Lee et al, 2015;Li & Kovacs, 2021). In investigating the practical connections between creative tourism experiences and creative space/spectacle visits, some studies have documented the creative activities that tourists intend to participate in (referring to push factors) and the attractive features of destinations that have motivated tourists to visit these places and events (referring to pull factors).…”

“…With the aim of boosting their creative reputation, many cities are investing heavily in promoting new creative industry clusters and creative spectacles to increase the overall attractiveness of the city (Booyens & Rogerson, 2015, 2019; de Bruin & Jelinčić, 2016). Creative spaces and creative spectacles are key components of creative tourism development (Booyens & Rogerson, 2015, 2019; Li & Kovacs, 2021, 2022; Richards, 2011, 2014; Richards & Wilson, 2006). In particular, creative industry clusters become the principal creative spaces, which show the physical manifestation of the creativity and tourism relationship.…”

“…To do so, we contacted previous tourists to the targeted study sites whose comments on travel blog websites were analysed in our previous research (Li & Kovacs, 2021. In total, 33 tourists, who had recorded their creative experiences on travel blogs, were contacted through the chatting function of the travel blog platforms for potential…”