The accumulation of creative capital drives tourism competitiveness in Europe. Factors such as talent, cultural diversity and creative industries favour tourism efficiency, giving destinations a key advantage to maximise their economic impact and attract more visitors.
Tourism is a key sector for economic development, and accounts for about 10% of global GDP and employment. At the same time, cultural and creative industries have grown as regional economic engines, generating approximately 30 million jobs and 3% of global GDP. As a result, several countries have started to implement policies that promote synergies between these two strategic sectors.
In response to this growing importance, in the article “Does the accumulation of creative capital influence the competitiveness of the tourism sector in European regions?” we explore how creative capital influences the tourism competitiveness of European regions. The main idea is to observe whether the accumulation of creative and cultural resources can contribute to maximising tourism impact. To achieve this objective, it is necessary to design a synthetic indicator of creativity, collecting information from the largest number of variables linked to this sector, and to synthesise it using the Data Envelopment Analysis technique in its Benefit of Doubt (DEA-BoD) version. Subsequently, a model is constructed to evaluate tourism efficiency using the traditional DEA model. Finally, both results are linked, by means of regression analysis in order to quantify what impact creative capital has on tourism competitiveness.
Specifically, we consider information for 171 regions from a total of 20 European countries. The database on which we work has been constructed through the information available in Eurostat. In the model for assessing tourism competitiveness, we consider three key variables: the number of available beds and the flow of international tourists, as resources, and the overnight stays of international tourists, as a proxy for tourism impact, as output.
The results for tourism competitiveness evidence an overall level of less than 50%, which shows considerable room for improvement, given the level of resources available. The best performing regions are the Canary Islands, Berlin, Hamburg, and Madeira. The presence of regions with very different characteristics, islands and inland cities, shows that there is no single pattern of tourism specialisation on our continent. In contrast, the least efficient regions are located in peripheral or less touristic areas, especially in Eastern Europe and some rural regions in France and Spain.
The creativity indicator we propose is based on the following five main dimensions, the results of which can be seen graphically in Figure 1.
Figure 1. Maps of regional cultural and creative indicators
- Talent Dimension: this assesses human capital and the proportion of workers in creative occupations. According to our results, the regions with the highest concentration of talent are in northern Europe and Spain, indicating that these areas retain and attract more creative workers, thereby fostering a favourable environment for tourism.
- Openness and Tolerance Dimension: this indicator includes variables such as diversity and integration of the foreign population. The Mediterranean coastal regions and Portugal excel in this respect, probably due to high tourist flows. In addition, Ireland and Germany also show high levels of diversity.
- Cultural supply and participation dimension: This dimension reflects the cultural offer (such as cinemas, theatres, and museums) and cultural participation of the population. European capitals such as Berlin, Paris, Madrid, and Lisbon have the highest levels, given their high population density and diverse cultural offerings.
- Technology and Innovation Dimension: this includes variables that measure the level of technological development and innovation capacity of European regions (such as R&D expenditure, patents, etc.). The most technologically advanced regions are concentrated in northern and central Europe.
- Cultural and creative industries dimension: this indicator measures the number of creative enterprises and their contribution to economic value. The regions of Sweden, Germany, and northern Spain lead in this aspect.
Once the level of tourism competitiveness has been calculated and the synthetic creativity indicator has been constructed, a regression analysis is carried out to measure how creative capital might shape and condition tourism competitiveness.
As can be seen in Table 1, the results obtained show that all dimensions of creative capital –except the one related to technology– have a positive impact on tourism competitiveness. Talent, cultural diversity and creative industries favour tourism efficiency, while the technological component does not seem to have the same effect. This suggests that –in areas with a higher concentration of technological industries– tourism fails to develop with the same strength. Furthermore, the results of the regression analysis show that the socioeconomic factors included in the analysis have a significant impact on tourism efficiency. In particular, it suggests that urban and densely populated areas offer a favourable environment for tourism. In addition, regions with a higher proportion of young people also show a positive impact, possibly due to their dynamism and the offer of attractive experiences for tourists. However, life expectancy has a negative effect, which could indicate that regions with older populations tend to be less tourism-oriented.
| Table 1. Regression Analysis Results | |
| Variable | SW |
| D.1 – Talent | 0.206*
(0.125) |
| D2 – Openness | 0.224**
(0.090) |
| D3 – Cultural offer and participation | 0.089*
(0.049) |
| D4 – Technology and research | -0.223*
(0.116) |
| D5 – Cultural and creative industry | 0.304**
(0.119) |
| Population | 1.303**
(0.626) |
| Population density | 0.003**
(0.001) |
| Household income | 7.936
(7.434) |
| Life expectancy | -85.414*
(51.362) |
| Youth | 21.739*
(13.548) |
| Constant | 67.029
(50.075) |
| Sigma | 11.591***
(0.621) |
| Wald Chi2 | 135.4*** |
| * p-value < 0.1; ** p-value < 0.05; *** p-value < 0.01. Standard errors are shown in parentheses. Regression models: SW, Simar-Wilson model (5,000 bootstrap replicates); Tobit regression model.
Source: Authors’ own |
|
In conclusion, the study confirms that the accumulation of creative capital is a crucial factor for improving tourism competitiveness in Europe. Regions with more talent, cultural diversity and a strong creative industry have a favourable context in which to maximise their tourism impact. These findings are useful for policymakers and destination managers alike, who could find strengthening the creative sector to be a key tool for attracting more tourists and generating greater economic impact.
About the article
Gómez-Vega, M., Boal, I. & Alonso-Villa, P. (2024). Does the accumulation of creative capital influence the competitiveness of the tourism sector in European regions? Tourism Economics, 30(8). https://doi.org/10.1177/13548166241240630
About the authors
Mafalda Gómez-Vega, Department of Applied Economics at University of Valladolid
Iván Boal, Department of Applied Economic at University of Valladolid
Pablo Alonso-Villa, Department of Economic History
About the image
Gracia district urban decoration, Barcelona Oh-Barcelona.com Flickr
