The winners of the 6th Edition of the Creative Tourism Awards have been revealed this January 31st after a long selection process.
The International Jury composed by experts in tourism, marketing, and creative industries, had the difficult task of selecting the BEST CREATIVE DESTINATION among 97 very diverse destinations from around the world, relying on the criteria of creativity, authenticity, and sustainability.
The prestigious award is finally assigned to the Municipality of Carrara (Tuscany, Italy).
Created by the Creative Tourism Network®, the Creative Tourism Awards aim to reward companies, projects and destinations worldwide that foster the creative tourism, a new generation of tourism, characterized by the active participation of the tourists in artistic and creative activities.
Among the many reasons that make the City of Carrara a reference for the Creative Tourism development at the world level, the Jury of the Creative Tourism Awards highlighted that:
- – The city, that is already famous worldwide for its exceptional historical and artistic heritage and for being the source of inspiration of the most outstanding artists – among them, Michelangelo, Canova, Bernini – goes beyond its traditional tourism offer in order to reinvent itself, by making the creativity the core of a holistic sustainable strategy, that benefits the whole city and population.
- – The City’s DNA – deeply linked to the marble activity – is effectively used as a common thread through which a wide array of creative proposals, among them workshops, festivals and permanent activities, give coherence to the city strategic development, thought to make the city attractive for both the residents and visitors.
- – Indeed, events like White Carrara Downtown, Carrara Marmotec Exhibition, Carrara Studi Aperti, contribute to creating synergies between the marble industry and other fields like art, crafts, food, wine, performing arts and nature others.
- – Such participatory projects enable to engage the public and private sector, as well as the civil society, creating an ecosystem and enhancing the social cohesion and the locals’ self-esteem.
The Jury also focused on:
- – The adequacy of the creative tourism offer that promotes the local culture by participating in authentic activities, which create value around new demands for slow and emotional tourism.
- – The value chain created by involving the local communities in the projects’s management, to foster inclusive and sustainable urban planning, as well as intercultural and intergenerational dialogue.
- – The ecosystem developed around the co-creation between established artists and young designers.
- – The urban regeneration achieved through the re-use of private and public spaces to organize workshops and creative activities in the old city center, with the purpose of making Carrara more vital and safer.
- The Jury also valued positively the overall methodology to host a technical Table on Tourism, composed by all the local public and private stakeholders operating in the tourist industry as well as to organize a local group working on the Unesco Creative City Project, with the co-operation of Unesco and/or of the Tuscany Region and Toscana Promozione Turistica.
Links:
en.unesco.org/creative-cities/carrara
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