The Role of Creative Industries in Tourist Destination Branding: Implications for St. Petersburg, Russia Elena Chicherina, post-graduate student National Research University “Higher School of Economics” Sustainable Tourism Development in the Changing World

Defining a destination brand  Fierce competition among destinations on the tourist market  The term “nation brand” suggested in 1996  A destination brand is “competitive identity” of a place [Anholt, 2009]  A destination brand is the DNA that defines the destination [Anholt, 2009]

Destination brand formation In the nucleus of a destination brand might be: history, architecture, archeological heritage, natural and climatic resources, local gastronomy, arts, etc. Eg: Barcelona sea, sun and sand? architecture and art? Catalan gastronomy? Brand repositioning: Barcelona, a city that inspires [

Creativity and creative industries  “Experience economy” [Gilmore, Pine, 1999] => appeal to emotions and senses  Creative tourism as a new form of cultural tourism [Richards, Raymond, 2000]  11 sectors of creative industries [Fesel, Söndermann, 2007] Publishing industriesMuseum shops, arts exhibitions Film industriesRetail trade of cultural goods Broadcasting industriesJournalists / news agencies Music, visual and performing artsArchitectural offices Design industriesAdvertising Manufacture of software / games  Organizations of creative industries deal with the production of new knowledge and cultural values [Matetskaya, Khoreva, 2012]  Creative industries as entrepreneurship in cultural sphere

Destination brand of St. Petersburg (1) A city of classical culture?

Destination brand of St. Petersburg (2) Basic identifications or images [Tulchinsky, 2013] The window to Europe The city of intelligentsia The treasury of world culture The Northern capital Q1: What does a destination possess? Q2: Who and why needs it?

Creativity in St. Petersburg  art centres and galleries (Etaji, Pushkinskaya 10, Erarta)  creative spaces and clusters (Taiga space, Skorokhod, Architect, Tkachi, SIDE, Fligel’, Korpus 2)  festivals of public art, creative gastronomy, informal art projects  new institutions such as creative agencies  “infrastructure” such as art-hotels (Artway, Art-Kommunalka, Rachmaninov)  Are tourists part of their target audience?  “Spaces of exclusion?” [Zhelnina, 2012]

St. Petersburg as a tourist destination  6,2 million tourists in 2013 [Committee for External Relations of St. Petersburg, 2013]  Up to 60% of foreign tourists are the elderly  Domestic tourists are mainly families with children and the youth (40%) From “city of classical culture” towards “cutting edge creative city” can help to widen and rejuvenate the audience

Research project (1) The aim: to examine the role of organizations of creative industries in the process of formation and promotion of a tourist destination brand. Research questions:  What are the ways of implementing arts and creativity into the formation of a destination brand?  What is the potential of destination branding based on creativity from the social, cultural and economic perspectives?  Are there any specific mechanisms and marketing instruments used for formation and promotion of a destination brand based on creativity?  What role do organizations of creative industries play in tourist destination branding?  What motivates organizations of creative industries to participate in touristic activities and how can they benefit?  How do organizations of creative industries network between each other and with other actors of tourist destination branding?  What are the best practices of involvement of creative industries organizations in the process of formation and promotion of a destination brand?

Research project (2) Empirical data - semi-structured expert interviews with:  officials from committees and agencies responsible for touristic, cultural, and economic activities of the city and its marketing strategy;  representatives of organizations of creative industries. Expected results: 1.Perspectives of destination brand formation on the basis of creativity will be identified. 2.The role of organizations of creative industries in the process of destination brand formation and promotion will be defined. 3.The project will help to elaborate advice and corrections for the destination branding strategy of St. Petersburg.

Thank you for your attention!