Arts and Crafts as a Driver for Sustainable Tourism

Innovation Showcase
Ana García-López  

Local crafts are considered a part of the cultural heritage that is crucial for the development of sustainable and quality tourism. Beyond the traditional role in the production and sale of souvenirs for visitors, crafts play an increasingly interesting function as creators and disseminators of the identity and cultural heritage linked to a particular site. Over the last ten years, the progressive interest in experiential tourism has greatly developed linked to a visitor profile that is adept at a philosophy of sustainable living and interested in practices and products that promote respect for the environment, heritage, and the landscape. This development has fostered a link with craftsmanship as a great source of what has come to be known as quality or sustainable tourism. As part of the so-called orange economy or creative economy, arts and crafts have undertaken their transition to the circular economy in a natural way towards the sustainability of its products and processes. With this paradigm shift, craft have shown a high capacity to establish even stronger links with the contemporary tourist, which seeks the unique and the avant-garde within tradition. From the Chair of Innovation in Crafts, Design and Contemporary Art, through the RRREMAKER H2020 research project of the University of Granada, we strive for the promotion of the craft sector as a vehicle for strategies to promote quality tourism.