Dear Friends:

Here I am in Santiago de Compostela, a simply beautiful UNESCO Heritage site! Imagine the opportunity of interacting with over 200  diverse  contemporary artists from the Canary Islands,  Galicia, Catalania, Madrid, Berlin, Brazil, and the Netherlands! Simply amazing!

As the only American speaker at Maac-Mercado atlantico de creacion contemporanea, -I have been blessed to experience a provocative interchange among creatives at least 25 years younger than myself! I do believe that my presentation on Santa Fe’s creative tourism and  our cultural policies did indeed convince some of these young creatives that not all politicians are  evil and uncaring about the arts. Respect for government leaders is at an all time low in Spain, for sure- so that was interesting to deal with as the only public official on the program !  For details check the website http://www.maccatlantic.org/

I will return home Friday with a renewed commitment to international exchanges, the power of ¨creatives¨, as well as fine inexpensive cuisines and great wines! (As well as black blue jeans as formal dress)  Mostly I will treasure many new fascinating international colleagues who are actively engaged in diverse innovative art forms.

Cheers! Rebecca

Rebecca Wurzburger                                                                                                                                                                              ICTA Director rebeccawurzburger@gmail.com

Rebecca Wurzburger, Director

I am absolutely thrilled to announce the launching of International Creative Tourism Associates (ICTA). The genesis of this company was the UNESCO’s first International Creative Tourism Conference held in September 2008 in Santa Fe, New Mexico. This first-of-a kind conference brought together delegates from 16 countries from around the world to engage in a global conversation about how to best leverage the tourism sector for community and economic development. Conceived, in large part by members of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network, this Conference resulted in a book entitled Creative Tourism, A Global Conversation: How to Provide Unique Experiences for Travelers Worldwide.

From editing essays from the world’s thought leaders who contributed to this book, it became apparent to me and my co-editors that a wide array of creative tourism resources exists worldwide. ICTA has been created to advise cities, states, provinces and countries on the application of Creative Tourism as an effective economic and community development tool. Specifically ICTA will consult with private and public sector tourism, community development and economic development organizations which are seeking innovative ways of promoting tourism in an increasingly competitive environment.

Associates who have initially joined me in this effort include:

Crispin Raymond (New Zealand)

Greg Richards (Spain)

Caroline Couret (Spain).

Updated resumes describing each Associate’s interest and particular expertise in Creative Tourism and Creative Industries will follow.

Thank You

Rebecca Wurzburger, Director