Dr. Marianna Sigala Dr. Marianna Sigala is an Associate Professor at the University of the Aegean, while she has previously worked for the University of Strathclyde and Westminster University (UK). She has also professional experience from the hospitality industry in Greece. Her major research interests and publications are in service operations management and Information & Communication Technologies in tourism and hospitality. Dr Sigala is currently the co-editor of the international journal "Journal of Service Theory & Practice" and the editor of the International Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Cases. Dr Sigala is also the Chair of the ICHRIE Johnson & Wales Case Study Competition & Publication Series. Dr Sigala has also served on the Board of Directors of: IFITT (Membership Director); I-CHRIE (Research Director); HeAIS (Publicity Director); and EuroCHRIE (President).
Technological advances and changes in consumer behaviour are revolutionalising the way tourism experiences are produced, consumed and promoted. Tourists do not want to be passive consumers anymore, instead they wish to be active participants and co-creators of their tourism experiences. In addition, the new technologies and specifically the affordances of the social media empower the tourists and tourism destinations to collaborate for co-designing, co-marketing and co-distributing tourism experiences. The purpose of the presentation is twofold: it first explains how technologies have created a new breed of creative tourists and then, it provides several examples showing how tourism destinations and cultural institutions can exploit the new technologies for developing and promoting tourism experiences that address the challenges of creative tourism.