This document summarizes a presentation on culture and tourism given at a meeting in Patras, Greece. It defines culture and discusses the cultural diversity and common heritage within Europe. It also examines the economy of culture as a growing sector and lists some EU cultural programs and initiatives. Examples of innovative cultural practices and trends are provided. Strategic directions are outlined to better integrate culture and tourism and promote sustainable development.

1. 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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2. 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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3. culture
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4. culture defined…
“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
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5. 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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6. 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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7. 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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8. 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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9. 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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10. 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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11. 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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12. tourism
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13. 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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14. 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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15. 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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16. 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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17. 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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18. best case: the Algavre tourism learning portal…
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19. 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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20. 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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21. 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
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