Book Review: Tourism and Culture in the Age of Innovation

Look, I figured out
how to use GIF!

Putting the international in 'interdisciplinary,' "Tourism and Culture in the Age of Innovation" provides an interdisciplinary look at "tourism as a key driver of growth, the strong competitiveness faced by the sector, and the emergence of new ICTs applications in tourism within a digitized and highly connected and innovative environment."

A chapter entitled, "A Stakeholder Perspective on Heritage Branding and Digital Communication," [Merpel loves a good academic title] by Adriaan De Man and Cristiana Oliveira, examines value creation in the cultural industries. The authors paint archeological museums as key centres to regions both culturally and economically as they help develop a regional brand and create an, "archeological trademark." However, online social media has generated a second sphere of influence and marketing. The museum is now a, "mediator, authenticating contents and providing credibility" as it engages with bloggers and online networks creating branding, and value, for a region.

Cat Culture
cirdub

IPKat readers may object to the use of the term "trademark" in the above context as it refers to a more general concept of trade marks, rather than the narrow legal concept.  However, interdisciplinary work reminds us terms mean different things to different disciplines. While the IP community focuses on legal aspects, texts such as this choose to focus on early stages of the creation of value and branding which may eventually lead to a trade-mark. [Merpel, with her trademark purr, is working on registering DJ Mer Pel.]

This book is unlikely to find its way onto the bookshelves of most IPKat readers, but highlights that our legalistic focus on IP, and innovation in general, is set in a wider context. Tourism and cultural industries are huge economic sectors (particularly in smaller countries) and demonstrate the importance of debates in traditional knowledge, cultural heritage and geographical indications.

Tourism and Culture in the Age of Innovation (2016), edited by Vicky Katsoni and Anastasia Stratigea, published by Springer, IBSN 978-3-319-27528-4, 625 pages, is available as an e-book for USD$129 and in hardcover for USD$169.