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HUREDEPIS INTERREG IIIB - ARCHIMED FINAL INFORMATIVE MEETING

Monday 25th February 2008, Patras

RESULTS & FUTURE ACTIVITIES SESSION

Survey Papers on Culture & Tourism

Ioannis Evagelou MSc

Project Implementation

Patras Science Park

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what a survey paper is all about?

Reviews and explores the work which has been done in a particular field of knowledge

Facilitates a comparison between cases, research approaches and practices so as to identify trends, developments, gaps and problems

Provides an overall and critical assessment and present an up-to-date picture of the fields under examination

Highlights avenues for further research

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culture

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“a set of distinctive spiritual, material, intellectual and emotional features of society or a social group, and that it encompasses, in addition to art and literature, lifestyles, ways of living together, value systems, traditions and beliefs"

UNESCO, 2002,

Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity

culture defined…

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cultural diversity – common cultural heritage…

“Language, literature, performing arts, visual arts, architecture, crafts, the cinema and broadcasting are all part of Europe’s cultural diversity. Although belonging to a specific country or region, they represent part of Europe’s common cultural heritage. The aim of the European Union is double: to preserve and support this diversity and to help make it accessible to others”

Maastricht Treaty, 1992

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the economy of culture: a sector of growth…

In 2005, employment within the sector of culture was almost 4.9 million of employers in the European Union’s countries, an average of 2.4% of the total active population (European Commission, 2006)

Turnover:

The cultural & creative sector generated a turnover of more than € 654 billion in 2003.

Value-added to European GDP:

The cultural & creative sector contributed to 2.6% of the EU GDP in 2003.

Growth:

The growth of the cultural & creative sector in Europe from 1999 to 2003 was at a 12.3% higher than the growth of the general economy.

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the economy of culture: some considerations…

Cultural products are often short lived with a high risk ratio of failure over success;

The products are marketed for local audiences with different languages, but competing with international products with global appeal;

The market structure of the cultural sector is particularly complex;

The market is highly volatile, depending on fashion, trends and consumption uncertainties;

The sector has an important social role as a major and attractive communication tool.

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EU cultural programmes and initiatives…

Europe’s Capitals of Culture (1985)

The Culture Programme 2007 – 2013

1st Cultural Forum for Europe (2007)

2008: The European Year of Intercultural Dialogue

(EYID)

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innovative examples - cases of excellency…

Open-air eco-cultural museums

(Germany, Sweden, France)

Online accessibility and digital preservation of cultural material (digital libraries)

Online, e-cultural tours (visiting museums from the comfort of your own place)

Architectural restoration as a way to enhance a place’s tourist brand image (Barcelona and Madrid, Spain)

Film, cinema and music tourism

(England: Harry Potter’s shooting locations, The Beatles Museum, Austria: Beethoven’s cities, USA: New Orleans - Jazz music)

Music festivals

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trends & future perspectives…

Culture in the Digital Age (ICT)

Regeneration and preservation of cultural assets

Examine the increasing tourism’s impact on cultural resources and vice versa

Intra-European Thematic Cultural Routes

Capitalize on trans-national and trans-regional cooperation on cultural and tourism development initiatives

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strategic directions…

Facilitate the integration of the cultural dimension into trade through

initiatives aiming at promoting cultural backgrounds within the E.U.;

Enforce collaboration between EU regions as well as with third countries,

which possess rich cultural and heritage background;

Support and facilitate the exchange of experiences and good practices;

Enhance processes and actions as far as funding opportunities are

concerned;

Implement innovative approaches within cultural events’ management;

Promote the effect of culture within sustainable tourism development,

through research studies, pilot projects, employees’ exchange schemes,

conferences, seminars, study visits, etc.;

Integrate cultural aspects on new types of eco-friendly tourism products

(e.g. agro-, wine-, gastro- naval, religious tourism, etc.)

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tourism

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a renewed EU tourism policy (2006)

European tourism is facing a number of challenges:

Europe’s ageing population, growing external competition, consumer demands for more specialised tourism, and the need to develop more sustainable and environmentally friendly practices.

The revised tourism policy aims at promoting overall competitiveness by:

producing more and better jobs;

helping tourism grow strongly in the coming years;

developing dialogue and partnership with industry stakeholders;

promoting a wider understanding of the role tourism plays in Europe;

Improving the regulatory environment for tourism;

Enhance the understanding and visibility of tourism and support the promotion of European destinations.

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destinations of excellence…

The EDEN (European Destinations of Excellence) project launched by the EC in 2006, in order to:

Draw attention to the value, diversity and shared characteristics of European tourist destinations, and

Promote destinations where the economic growth objective is pursued in such a way as to ensure the social, cultural and environmental sustainability of tourism.

Theme of the pilot project:

Rural Tourism

The subtitle of the award for 2006:

“Best Emerging Rural Destinations”

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the project’s participants [a]

Pielachtal (the winner of the competition) in Austria: culture, nature, way of life, handicrafts and specialty foods are combined to form a network of innovative offers.

Durbuy, Belgium: offering an astonishing variety of landscapes.

Sveti Martin na Muri, Croatia: the first local community in Croatia which adopted a strategy of development of rural tourism with the aim to establish sustainable economic development based on preserved natural heritage.

Troodos, Cyprus: aiming at of discovering the cultural treasures of UNESCO World Heritage sites and combine them with sustainable tourism activities.

The region of Florina, Greece is rich of traditional establishments, natural and cultural endowment, local products, popular art, customs, local cuisine, events organized in the spirit of agro tourism.

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the project’s participants [b]

The Orseg region in Hungary: demonstrated an innovative way of offering a variety of natural beauties, unchanged folk traditions, customs and traditional crafts.

The Clonakilty District in Ireland: offers a full range of visitor services available and an abundance of activities on land and sea, music sessions and fresh local produce, natural beauties and art festivals

Specchia in Italy: a remarkable example of a place where tradition meets innovation and gastronomy

Kuldiga in Latvia: known as “The Latvian Venice”, aiming to establish a functioning complex of ‘live museum’ in the historical centre of the town

Finally, Nadur in Malta: successfully met the required qualities and standards of sustainability, holistic management and improvement, and was the first to implement and offer visitors a purely agro-tourism experience

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EDEN 2007

The European Commission has recently launched the second phase of the pilot project

"European Destinations of Excellence"

The theme of excellence for 2007 is

"tourism and local intangible heritage"

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best case: the Algavre tourism learning portal…

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the Algavre tourism learning portal: some facts…

Initiated by the network of innovating regions in Europe (IRE) (www.innovating-regions.org) IRE act as a platform for EU regions to exchange experience and access

good practice in regional innovation policies and schemes; Supported since 1994 by the Commission’s Enterprise and Regional Policy

DGs, the network was recently extended to candidate countries, and now includes more than 200 member regions in 27 European countries;

The Regional Policy DG offers analysis to regions who wish to improve their competitiveness. In particular, that would enable SMEs to adapt to the technological changes that are occurring increasingly rapidly on international markets;

In this new economy, easy access to knowledge and know-how will be one of the principal strategic competitive weapons;

Human capital is the determining factor; continuing training and lifelong learning are keys to innovation and regional competitiveness.’

European Commission, Innovation in tourism, How to create a tourism learning area, The handbook, 2006

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strategic orientation perspectives…

Enhance entrepreneurship and boost competitiveness;

Create and sustain new sources of employment;

Invest in life-long learning, skilled workforce;

Put particular emphasis on good environmental performances;

Highlight the utilisation and protection of natural resources and cultural heritage, as valuable means for long-term growth and innovative tourism products;

Encourage innovation and the sustainable use of resources;

Ensure best use of information and communication technology (ICT);

Improve the access of SMEs to funding sources; and

Foster economic and administrative reform for more entrepreneurship and better business environment.

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sharing a common sea….sharing a common future… let’s put culture and tourism together as joint forces for

tomorrow’s sustainable growth and development!!!

Greek-Roman ancient theatre at Taormina, Sicily