Rebecca Wurzburger
An internationally recognized leader in the emerging field of Creative Cities and Creative Tourism and Founding Director of International Creative Tourism Associates, Rebecca Wurzburger, Ph.D, is City Councilor and Mayor Pro-Tem of the City of Santa Fe. During her seven years on the Council she has played a primary leadership role in focusing Santa Fe’s Economic Development Plan upon the creative industry sector. Her leadership was central to Santa Fe’s successful application to UNESCO’s Creative Cities Network in 2004. A pioneer in the development of creative tourism, in 2006 she introduced this concept to the UNESCO Network which led to the first UNESCO International Conference on Creative Tourism in Santa Fe in 2008. At this Conference delegates from 16 countries around the world convened to discuss emerging issues and best practices in the use of Creative Tourism as a powerful economic development tool for cities, states, provinces and counties.
As a speaker, author, and facilitator Rebecca has taken her unique experience in Creative Tourism and Creative City economic development internationally to such diverse cities as Santiago de Compostela, Paris, Kobe, Kanasawa, Osaka and Abu Dhabi. She is Co-Editor of the book entitled Creative Tourism: A Global Conversation-How to Provide Unique Creative Experiences for Travelers Worldwide. In 2008 she was commissioned to write an article on Creative Tourism by the Japan Foundation.
Rebecca has over thirty years experience with “community building” in a wide variety of settings-public, private and not-for-profit. She has worked extensively with organizations on emerging issues analysis, strategic planning, and Board development. Most recently she is developing a succession planning model for local governments. Passionate about the role of creativity and innovation in ”city making” she is actively engaged in promoting creative tourism worldwide as both an economic development tool and a tool for re-engaging citizens in their authentic history and traditions.