CASE STUDY – CREATIVE TOURISM NEW ZEALAND

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CULTURAL RENEWAL + TOURISM 

CASE STUDY – CREATIVE TOURISM NEW ZEALAND 

Author: Crispin Raymond, Creative Tourism New Zealand 

Background 

Most of the boom in tourism in the last 50 years has been in sun-sea-sand 

holidays. However, while these are certain to remain a major part of tourism in 

the future, as a proportion of the total international tourist market they have 

already begun to fall. 

This is happening for a number of reasons. The growth of additional and shortbreak 

holidays means that tourists have the opportunity and the inclination to do 

something different for their ‘extra’ holidays. 

The aging and better-educated population of many countries has created a 

demand for a different sort of holiday. Health fears mean that even with the 

strongest sun creams fewer people want to toast all day on the beach. Of the 

alternative types of tourism, cultural tourism is becoming the most popular. 

Cultural tourists visit other countries to learn about their culture. However, this 

learning process is generally fairly passive: walking round museums and galleries, 

visiting historic buildings and monuments, attending artistic and cultural events. 

Most of the experiences they sample do not encourage them to express 

themselves. They are more likely to be observers than participants. 

New Directions 

Creative Tourism is a logical development of cultural tourism and goes a step 

further. Creative tourists are not just passive consumers but become more 

actively involved in the culture of the countries and communities they are visiting. 

While the cultural tourist enjoys visiting, say, a pottery studio or sampling a 

range of local foods, the creative tourist takes part in a pottery course or learns 

to cook local dishes. 

The creative tourist is a participant, someone who learns by doing, someone who 

finds enjoyment and fulfilment in developing new abilities. As a result, creative 

tourists get closer to the cultures and the people of the countries they visit. In the 

words of the Chinese proverb: ‘I hear and I forget, I see and I remember, I do 

and I understand’. 

Published at www.fuel4arts.com with permission from the Author, September 2003 Page 1 of 5 

© Creative Tourism New Zealand and Australia Council for the Arts, 2003

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Where does the concept of 'Creative Tourism' come from? 

3 years ago I attended a lecture by Greg Richards, an authority on cultural 

tourism, and the author of a number of books and articles on the subject. He 

argued that cultural tourism, even as demand grew, risked causing dissatisfaction 

because of its failure to engage. It needed to become more creative, he said. 

A metaphorical light flashed: Creative Tourism, great expression, I thought. We 

got together after the lecture and decided to try to develop the concept, Greg in 

academic circles, me in New Zealand, the country to which I was about to 

migrate. 

Creative Tourism in New Zealand 

So, having subsequently settled in the Nelson/Tasman region at the top of New 

Zealand's South Island, how could I put the Creative Tourism idea into practice? 

Following initial discussions with the Regional Tourist Office I met Nelson Bays 

Arts Marketing Network (NBAM), the region's well-respected arts marketing 

agency. Ali Boswijk, its Chief Executive, was attracted by the possibility of 

Creative Tourism providing a new income stream for local artists. She had some 

public funding available for cluster development and agreed to incubate the 

project for a 'pilot period' so that the key features of supply and demand could be 

better understood. 

We held an inaugural meeting last December to discuss the possibility of forming 

a network amongst local artists to offer workshops. World of WearableArt and The 

Suter te Aratoi o Whakatu, two of Nelson's flagship arts organisations, together 

with a number of other established organisations and interested individuals, 

agreed to become members. An embryonic organisation, Creative Tourism New 

Zealand (CTNZ), emerged and was launched on 1 May 2003 by Dame Cheryll 

Sotheran, the founder of Wellington's Te Papa museum. 

CTNZ now has 23 Members offering a range of workshops and learning 

experiences that reflect the diverse culture of this part of New Zealand: from 

harakeke (flax) weaving to woolcraft, from bone carving to bronze casting, from 

ceramics to native plant propagation, from seafood cookery to wood working. 

Workshops last from 2 hours to 4 days. Some include meals, most ask 

participants to bring their own sandwiches. Costs range from $55 to $650. All the 

workshops are small, with a maximum of twelve participants and usually less. 

Workshops can be booked directly with Members or through the local Visitor 

Information Office in Motueka. The latter is providing this booking service for free 

during the pilot period partly because they hope to sell other services to potential 

creative tourists but mainly because they see the long-term potential of an 

additional aspect of tourism for region. 

CTNZ Members meet bi-monthly to discuss progress. These meetings bring 

together artists and crafts people and help the bonds between them. 

Each Member has been asked to recommend accommodation nearby, places 

where they feel that participants on their workshops will enjoy staying. This has 

involved a further 30 plus people who want to see CTNZ succeed. 



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NBAM's role was, and still is, invaluable. At the start, when Creative Tourism was 

just an idea, they contributed credibility and contacts to potential Members. They 

continue to provide marketing contacts and support. But they also provide an 

existing organisational framework as decisions about an appropriate long-term 

legal structure for CTNZ have not yet had to be made. 

Segmentation - Who Are Creative Tourists? 

Are tourists flocking to attend? Not yet, but the signs are encouraging and the 

New Zealand summer, when we expect most participants, lies ahead. We have 

already established that marketing a mix of workshops under the Creative 

Tourism ‘brand’, attracts more interest than most individuals can achieve by 

themselves. 

We also think that Creative Tourism will appeal to three groups. 

The first group of potential creative tourists are the baby-boomers and newly 

retired. Having achieved a level of material comfort, often at a price of focusing 

predominantly on work, they are frequently looking for intellectual stimulus and 

fresh opportunities to find out about things which have always interested them 

but which they have never got round to doing. 

The second group are the under 30s, often students, backpackers, perhaps 

visiting New Zealand on a ‘gap year’. Creative Tourism appeals to those with open 

minds who are still finding their way in life particularly after they have survived a 

range of physical travel adventures and are starting to look for experiences that 

stretch the mind as well as the body! 

And, thirdly, New Zealanders themselves of all ages are interested to learn more 

about different aspects of their country’s culture. 

Encouragingly, Tourism New Zealand recently completed market research which 

has led to a profile of the ideal visitor to New Zealand: the 'Interactive Traveller' 

http://www.tourisminfo.govt.nz/cir_rand. This person wants to interact with local 

Kiwis and learn more about local culture in small groups though participatory 

learning experiences. In many ways, the Interactive Traveller is a creative tourist! 

Marketing 

The core tool of our marketing approach is the website 

www.creativetourism.co.nz which is updated bi-monthly in the light of 

experience. This provides details of workshops and their tutors. It also contains 

valuable endorsements from organisations and people such as Maureen Wheeler, 

co-founder of Lonely Planet. These again add credibility. 

However, since there are now supposed to be almost as many websites as there 

are people on the planet, getting the site noticed by our potential market is the 

real challenge. 

We approach this through a variety of means, including: 

- encouraging our members and accommodation providers to spread the word to 

those they know; 

- reciprocal links to others whose markets overlap ours. The most referrals at 

the moment are coming from the Lonely Planet website; 



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- links from tourist organisations promoting New Zealand and Nelson. For 

example see the home page of Latitude Nelson's website: 

http://www.nelsonnz.com/ or look at the bottom of 'A Creative View of New 

Zealand' on New Zealand's national tourism website: 

http://www.purenz.com/index.cfm/purenz_page/E0AFB440-5D94-4B98-910F- 

8B36A11391B3.html. 

- rack cards in local visitor information offices; 

- pursuing journalists; and 

- contacting universities and colleges that teach tourism. 

Is this enough? No, it is only a very modest start. The main constraint is money. 

Budget 

By piloting CTNZ within NBAM it has been possible to attract some grants and 

sponsorship. Industry New Zealand, the Community Trust and Nelson 

Marlborough Institute of Technology have all contributed. 

These funds, together with subscriptions from Members and recommended 

accommodation providers are now approaching NZ$20,000. They have covered 

the costs of the website development and maintenance, initial print and NBAM's 

staff time. 

However, no paid advertising can yet be afforded and I am leading the project on 

a voluntary basis for the time being. 

And then What? 

The pilot period will run until Easter 2004. If all has gone well and sufficient 

creative tourists have participated in our Members' workshops for us to be 

confident of developing a sustainable organisation, CTNZ will build on what it has 

learnt and expand to offer workshops throughout the country. 

A decision will then be made about the most appropriate legal structure for the 

organisation: the options are staying within NBAM, becoming a separate not-forprofit 

or becoming a commercial business. 

If all continues to go well, then it could eventually be exciting to help set up 

Creative Tourism networks in other countries and share what has been learnt in 

New Zealand. Every country and region has skills and traditions that are of 

potential interest to the creative tourist. The list of possible experiences is as long 

as the list of abilities that mankind has developed in the different environments in 

which he lives. 

Creative Tourism has enormous potential but the speed with which this can be 

realised is still uncertain. The possibility, however, that New Zealand could one 

day be known as the home of Creative Tourism in the same way as it is 

recognised as a primary destination for Adventure Tourism is a stimulating one. 



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The demand for cultural tourism seems sure to continue to grow and for countries 

like New Zealand that have less historic buildings and cultural infrastructure than 

Europe, Creative Tourism offers a more imaginative and lower cost way to help 

meet the cultural expectations of its visitors. 

Further reading 

CTNZ website's FAQs provides a list of Greg's articles and books on Creative 

Tourism. See the answer to the fifth question on: 

http://www.creativetourism.co.nz/faqs.htm.

CASE STUDY – CREATIVE TOURISM NEW ZEALAND

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