Creative Tourism – Experiential Tourism September Conference Santa Fe

Some of the world’s foremost thinkers on creativity and tourism will be featured as part of the Santa Fe International Conference on Creative Tourism being held September 28, – October 2, 2008 in Santa Fe, New Mexico, America’s first UNSECO city. The conference is intended as a forum for learning skills, identifying economic opportunities, and developing best practices for creative tourism programs.

Broadly defined as engaging travelers in a community’s culture through active participation, creative tourism provides a means for economic growth to destinations willing to offer visitors an authentic experience through personal involvement with a community’s heritage.

Whether learning to cook indigenous cuisine, taking classes from a local artist, or volunteering to repair a historic building, participative learning in the arts, heritage, or special character of a place provides a connection with those who reside there and create its living culture. This experiential approach to tourism involves visitors more closely with the community itself while providing destinations with new ways of attracting those visitors.

The conference will be highlighted by an outstanding group of presenters representing some of the founders of the creative tourism movement and thinkers on creativity, geotourism, creative industries, and urban and rural development. They include:

* Charles Landry
Seen as an international authority on creativity and city futures, he focuses especially on how the culture of a place can invigorate and revitalize the economy, enhancing the sense of self and confidence.
* Eric Maisel
Creativity coach and trainer, prolific author, and widely cited expert on creativity, Dr. Maisel has worked for over 20 years to bring out the creativity in artists, performers, and seekers of all sorts.
* Jack Loeffler
Mr. Loeffler is an aural historian, writer, radio producer, and sound collage artist who has made his home in northern New Mexico since 1962. He has produced nearly 300 documentary radio programs, authored a number of books, and continues his field research throughout the American West and northwestern Mexico addressing the relationships of indigenous cultures to their respective habitats.
* Greg Richards
European Executive Member of the Association for Tourism and Leisure Education (ATLAS) Mr. Richards has directed a number of ATLAS projects on topics including cultural tourism, crafts tourism, sustainable tourism, tourism education, and labor mobility in the tourism industry.
* Crispin Raymond
Credited as the originator of the concept of Creative Tourism, along with Greg Richards, Mr. Raymond founded Creative Tourism New Zealand and has worked in the arts, culture, and tourism fields for 25 years.
* Alex Pattakos, Ph.D.
Affectionately nicknamed “Dr. Meaning,” he is widely respected as a pioneer in transformational thinking. Dr. Pattakos is passionate about helping people realize their highest potential and find deeper, authentic meaning in their life and work.
* Becky Anderson
As Executive Director for HandMade in America, Becky oversees operations and programs and serves as a consultant for cultural and economic development projects related to crafts. In 1999 she was named by US News and World Report as one of “America’s Top Twenty Visionaries” for community and civic development work.
* Geoffrey Godbey
Dr. Godbey, Professor Emeritus, Penn State University, has authored or co-authored eight books and approximately one hundred articles dealing with leisure behavior, history and philosophies of leisure, leisure service organizations, and the future of leisure and leisure services.
* Jay Walljasper
A writer and editor for three decades, Mr. Walljasper is currently a contributing editor for National Geographic Traveler. He spent 20 years writing for and ultimately directing content at Utne Reader where he produced some of the earliest coverage on ecotourism and urban revitalization. His new book, The Great Neighborhood Book is a guide to fixing broken neighborhoods and how citizens can save the world on their own block.
* L. Kelley Lindquist
Mr. Lindquist has been the President of Artspace Projects since 1987 and has grown the organization into the nation’s leading non-profit developer of space for artists. He is also involved in the broader task of restoring national confidence in America’s creative communities and helping artists reclaim their rightful place in the national discussion about the role of the arts in American society.
* Robert McNulty
Founder and President of Partners for Livable Communities, United States, Mr. McNulty is known primarily for persuading local officials to view public and private partnerships as a resource for revitalizing cities in the Americas. He has been a frequent writer, editor, and contributor on urban strategies over the last twenty years.

The conference has been developed specifically for those wanting to increase economic development, job growth, and cultural preservation by more actively engaging visitors with their destination’s creative resources. Creative entrepreneurs, city and urban planners, tourism professionals, community leaders, municipal economists, creative industry developers, educators, cultural experts, and artists will all benefit from the skills learned during this unique participative conference.

Valere Tjolle