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- Cultural heritage appraisal by visitors to global cities: the use of social media and urban analytics in urban buzz researchPublication . Kourtit, Karima; Nijkamp, Peter; Romão, J.An attractive cultural heritage is an important magnet for visitors to many cities nowadays. The present paper aims to trace the constituents of the destination attractiveness of 40 global cities from the perspective of historical-cultural amenities, based on a merger of extensive systematic databases on these cities. The concept of cultural heritage buzz is introduced to highlight: (i) the importance of a varied collection of urban cultural amenities; (ii) the influence of urban cultural magnetism on foreign visitors, residents and artists; and (iii) the appreciation for a large set of local historical-cultural amenities by travelers collected from a systematic big data set (emerging from the global TripAdvisor platform). A multivariate and econometric analysis is undertaken to validate and test the quantitative picture of the above conceptual framework, with a view to assess the significance of historical-cultural assets and socio-cultural diversity in large urban agglomerations in the world as attraction factors for visitors. The results confirm our proposition on the significance of urban cultural heritage as a gravity factor for destination choices in international tourism in relation to a high appreciation for historical-cultural amenities.
- Are creative cities good places for creative people? notes on the social conditions for cultural production in contemporary economyPublication . Romão, J.Purpose: This paper discusses the social conditions for cultural production in contemporary cities, in the context of a globalized economy, with rising importance of the integration of cognitive, symbolic and emotional elements into tradable products and services. Although the agglomeration dynamics of creative activities in urban contexts and the social or spatial inequalities related to processes of urban reorganization in Post-Fordist societies have been analysed in the last years, the interrelations between these aspects still lack adequate investigation and empirical analysis. Methodology/Approach: By synthetizing diverse theoretical contributions related to different levels and interactions arising from creative activities, their transformations into tradable products (commodification) and some of their spatial implications in the urban context (agglomeration, externalities, identity, place branding and gentrification), the article emphasizes the different benefits obtained by the agents involved in this process, potentially contributing for increasing social conflicts and to a process of cultural homogenization with negative implications on the uniqueness and authenticity of places. Findings: Benefits arising from the externalities generated by the agglomeration of cultural production and creative activities can be framed within the "Common Pool of Resources" approach, suggesting that a more balanced share of the benefits can be obtained by means of participatory processes for city planning and development. Research Limitation/implication:The paper is based on a conceptual approach and further empirical research can be useful in order to test the formulations proposed. Originality/Value of paper: This analysis leads to the identification of different questions for further research, by combining quantitative analysis for the measurement of cultural and creative externalities and modelling processes for the distribution of benefits arising from cultural production, with qualitative analysis related to participatory processes of urban planning and monitoring.
- Territorial capital, smart tourism specialization and sustainable regional development: Experiences from EuropePublication . Romão, J.; Neuts, BaitThis study analyses the contribution of territorial sensitive resources related to natural and cultural features (environmental dimension), innovation capabilities and specialization patterns (smart specialization) to regional sustainable development (spatial sustainability). In the context of a fast and continuous expansion of tourism activities, particular attention is given to their impacts. The results of our path model suggest that different patterns of tourism dynamics coexist in European regions and that, for those where this sector assumes larger socio-economic importance, the contribution to the achievement of the "Millennium Goals", as proposed by the United Nations, is relatively poor. Regions particularly endowed in natural resources reveal a weak socio-economic performance, while showing high levels of specialization in tourism, based on large scale and low value-added products and services, suggesting that new approaches to territorial design are required. This also leads to important spatial unbalances, with the most tourism -dependent European regions revealing relatively low levels of regional gross domestic product and high levels of unemployment. Despite their relatively good performance in terms of CO2-emissions, it seems important for those regions' sustainable development to increase the value added in tourism, by reinforcing the linkages with other relevant regional economic sectors. Information and communication technologies can contribute to these achievements, through the integration of knowledge and innovations into the products and services comprising the smart tourism experiences (smart development) and their connections with related sectors (smart specialization). (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
- Impacts of innovation, productivity and specialization on tourism competitiveness - a spatial econometric analysis on European regionsPublication . Romão, J.; Nijkamp, PeterTourism is clearly a place-based activity, while in many advanced economies it is increasingly becoming a knowledge-based activity, with a high potential for the development of practice- and place-based innovation strategies. This study analyses whether and how regional systems of innovation influence the competiveness of tourism destinations in Europe. Impacts of both traditional production factors (physical and human capital), productivity, specialization and other contextual variables - related to the territorial capital of each region - on regional tourism performance of 237 European regions (NUTS 2) are analysed over a period of 8 years, using advanced techniques for spatial econometric analysis. The results reveal lower levels of productivity in those regions where tourism services are more labour intensive, while regions where education, innovation and productivity demonstrate higher levels are those where gross value added in tourism is less important for the regional economy. Policy implications are discussed, taking into consideration the principles for smart specialisation strategies in European regions and the possibility for cross-border regional cooperation. This work also confirms the research potential of spatial econometric analysis - and in particular spatial autocorrelation techniques - for tourism studies.
- Tourism, smart specialisation, growth, and resiliencePublication . Romão, J.This work analyses the implications of tourism dynamics and smart specialisation strategies on growth and socioeconomic resilience of European regions where tourism is a regional priority. By using a panel data model for 2006-2017, phases of growth, recession, and recovery are scrutinised. A convergence process is identified, with higher growth rates for less-developed regions; however, the most developed regions are more resilient. Tourism demand is positively correlated with growth and resilience but a high share of tourism within regional employment has negative impacts on both. Specialisation patterns combining tourism with agriculture have positive effects in both cases. Diversification strategies including unrelated sectors contribute to increased resilience in these regions, and a prioritisation of construction reduces regional resilience.