The Creative Tourism Network® had the honor to speak within the Forum on Creative Tourism organized last March 2d by the Municipality of Gabrovo, in collaboration with the cities of Sofia, Troyan, Veliko Tarnovo and Plovdiv .
The event, headed by the Deputy Minister of Tourism of Bulgaria, Mr. Luben Kanchev and the Mayor of Gabrovo Mrs. Tania Venkova Hristova, gathered experts and practitioners of 12 countries, from Colombia to Thailand, passing through Spain, Austria, Sweden the UK, and of course, Bulgaria, among others (*see below).
They all agreed that these Bulgarian cities own a high potential to promote very diverse but complementary tourism segments.
The creative tourism is one of them that fits with the presence of both intangible heritage and creative industries.
As Mrs. Tania Venkova Hristova highlighted, the Carnival of Gabrovo or events like the Festival of the Humour are new purposes of travel that enrich the already existing offer of crafts and folks activities, for which the city has been awarded as a Creative City by the UNESCO.
In this sense, the Creative Tourism Network® also officially recognized the city of Gabrovo as a Creative Friendly Destination® for its assets in terms of cultural and creative resources, as well as for its proactive engagement to create an eco-system between the tourism and other sectors like culture and education among others.
This was also the opportunity for the experts as well as for tour operators and journalists to participate in a creative trip through the cities of Gabrovo, Sofia, Troyan, Veliko Tarnovo and Plovdiv and discover this way the experiences they offer to the new generation of travelers eager to paticipate in authentic and unique activities.
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- Caroline Couret– Creative Tourism Network®: Creative tourism: how to turn intangible cultural heritage into innovation
- Alexandra Touza, Director of the Spanish Association for Industrial Tourism and the platform “I’m a local” : Industrial tourism and maritime tourism as a driver of local development
- Nerasa Wongmasa – President of the Thai Association for Ecological and Adventurous Tourism: The experience of creative tourism in Thailand through the eyes of tour operators.
- Michael Black – Founder and director of the New Destinations International Tourism and Business Network.
- Elena Paschinger – journalist and blogger writing about creative destinations. Author of “Creative Traveler’s Guide” https://www.creativelena.com Creative tourism: Destination management. Develop and unlock the potential of digital marketing strategies.
- Assoc. Prof. Dr. Svetla Dimitrova – Director of EMO “Etar” – Opportunities for creative tourism in Ethnographic Open-air Museum “Etar”.
- Margarita Dorovska – Director of the Museum of “House of Humor and Satire” :Creativity and humor.
- Dimitar Uzunov – Director, founder of the theater company Famille Mundi in Paris, co-founder of the creative platform “Arte Urbana” : Summer Drama Writing Camp: Creativity and inspiration from all over the world.
