Call for Papers — Special Issue on "Urban Tourism Planning and Cultural Tourism 2025"

2025-01-28

The Journal of Tourism and Development (JT&D) invites all tourism academics and experts performing research in relevant or connected areas to submit their manuscript(s). Authors are advised to submit an extended abstract of not more than 300 words, together with authors’ contact details to the Guest Editors. The Guest Editors will invite full paper submissions from authors whose abstracts are accepted. The full papers will be considered for acceptance after further review and corrections.

 

Call for abstracts: 15th February 2025


Submission of abstracts: 15th April 2025


Communication of abstract acceptance: 15th May 2025


Final full paper submission: 30th September 2025

 

Guest Editor:

Title: Prof. Dr.

Name: Rui Miguel Ferreira Carvalho

Affiliation: 1. Polytechnic University of Portalegre, School of Education and Social Sciences; 2. ISLA Santarém—Polytechnic Institute, Santarém, Portugal; 3. GOVCOPP Research Unit on Governance, Competitiveness and Public Policies, Tourism and Development Group, University of Aveiro; 4. TECHN&ART – Centre of Technology, Restoration and Art Enhancement, Polytechnic University of Tomar

Homepage: https://www.cienciavitae.pt/portal/pt/811C-9BB5-C7F2

E-mail: rui.carvalho@ipportalegre.pt

Research Interests: Creative Tourism; Cultural Tourism, Sustainability, Events, Tourism Planning and Development, Co-creation, Tourism Consumption and Sociology of Tourism

 

Guest Editor:

Title: Prof. Dr.

Name: Alexandra Rodrigues Gonçalves

Affiliation: 1. University of Algarve, School of Management, Hospitality and Tourism; 2. CinTurs- Research Centre for Tourism, Sustainability and Well-Being, University of Algarve

Homepage: https://www.cienciavitae.pt//pt/9717-7E8F-9B37

E-mail: marodrig@ualg.pt

Research Interests: Cultural Tourism; Creative Tourism; Heritage Management; Tourism Planning and Development; Cultural and Urban Events.

 

Guest Editor:

Title: PhD. Student

Name: Larissa Fernanda de Lima Almeida

Affiliation: 1. University of Aveiro, Department of Economics, Management, Industrial Engineering and Tourism; 2. GOVCOPP Research Unit on Governance, Competitiveness and Public Policies, Tourism and Development Group

Homepage: https://www.cienciavitae.pt//831E-A21C-3263

E-mail: larissal.almeida@ua.pt

Research Interests: Creative Tourism; Creative Economy, Cultural Tourism, Sustainability, Social Value Creation, Sociocultural Impacts, Local Development Strategies, Co-creation

 

 

Special issue information - Introduction:

Amidst the post-pandemic effects and climate change, tourism is still recovering, guided by the UNWTO 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and SDGs. It's estimated that the world´s urban population will reach 4.98 billion by 2030 (Page & Connell, 2020). Urban tourism has been under pressure as regenerative processes and sustainable modes of tourism are necessary to tackle overtourism and gentrification. Cultural tourism, a significant market in international tourism, demands effective urban tourism planning and more “prosilient” (Erdmenger, 2022) modes of tourism governance (Gohar, 2022) as it encompasses diverse typologies (e.g. food tourism, creative tourism, literary tourism, religious tourism, cultural events and others) increasing its complexity. While competing as multi-activity destinations, cities remain relevant for cultural tourists where tangible and intangible cultural assets, heritage, museums, events and festivals, “free tours” and several technologically mediated cultural experiences (Richards, 2022) continue to play a crucial role in the consumption of culture in urban settings.

 

Shifts in the production and consumption of culture have highlighted the conceptualization of the local in new tourism areas of cities (Maitland, 2006), using creativity and everyday life of local communities to differentiate destinations, stimulating the local turn in tourism research (Higgins‐Desbiolles & Bigby, 2022; Russo & Richards, 2016). Also, new forms of co-production and co-creation of cultural and creative experiences in cities have emphasised the role of cultural and creative experts, influencing the pertinent curational turn in tourism studies (Richards, 2021). In this sense, urban tourism planning and cultural tourism present several challenges to urban planners, cultural tourism experts, residents and visitors. New forms of consuming “city culture” (e.g. living like a local, off the beaten track and being a tourist in your city perspectives, and others) highlighted the roles of creatives, lifestyle entrepreneurs, digital nomads and creative communities influencing urban spaces for cultural tourism 4.0 (Richards, 2021) while governance, mobility, accessibility, transportation and demography remain important issues in the intersection of urban tourism planning and cultural tourism research (Richards, 2021, 2022, 2025; van der Borg, 2022).

 

This Special Issue aims to explore this relationship by presenting theoretical and empirical research including best practices, case studies, emerging trends, challenges, opportunities and recommendations for academics and professionals in both areas.

 

For this Special Issue, original research papers and review articles are welcome. Research areas may include (but are not limited to) the following:

 

List of themes

  • New trends in urban tourism planning and cultural tourism research
  • Urban tourism planning, cultural tourism 4.0 and the SDGs
  • Globalization and urban tourism policies for cultural tourism development
  • Resilience and “prosilience” discourses in urban tourism planning and cultural tourism
  • Governance in urban and cultural tourism destinations
  • Smart cities, creative communities and co-creation of cultural tourism experiences
  • Effective local participation and decision-making in urban tourism planning and cultural tourism destinations
  • Sociological perspectives on urban tourism planning and cultural tourism
  • Cities to work, live and visit – multidisciplinary perspectives on urban tourism planning and cultural tourism
  • Cultural/creative tourism experiences, co-creation and urban tourism regeneration
  • Cultural-led development plans for small cities and low-density areas
  • Urban peripheries and local narratives in cultural tourism development
  • Museums and the digitalization of culture in cultural tourism 4.0
  • Museums and co-creation of experiences
  • Curation, creative arts and informal cultures in urban settings
  • Curated cultural and creative tourism experiences in knowledge-based events
  • Curated cultural experiences, creative clusters and cultural tourism
  • Sustainable event design and placemaking in urban and cultural tourism destinations

 

General author guidelines: To standardise the submission procedures, the author(s) should follow the guidelines at  https://www.ua.pt/en/degeit/rtd/instructions . Submissions in both english and portuguese will be accepted.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Keywords: Urban tourism, Cultural tourism, Tourism planning and development, Tourism events, Sustainable tourism

 

References

Erdmenger, E. C. (2022). Localability for Everyone: A PROsilient and Inclusive Destination Governance Model. In Pechlaner, Zacher, & Störmann (Eds.), Resilienz als Strategie in Region, Destination und Unternehmen (pp. 279–308). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-37296-5_10

Gohar, A. (2022). Tourism Governance - A Critical Discourse on a Global Industry. De Gruyter Oldenbourg.

Higgins‐Desbiolles, F., & Bigby, B. C. (2022). The Local Turn in Tourism: Empowering Communities. Channel View Publications.

Maitland, R. (2006). Culture, City Users and the Creation of New Tourism Areas in Cities. In M. K. Smith (Ed.), Tourism, Culture and Regeneration (pp. 25–34). CABI International.

Page, S. P., & Connell, J. (2020). Tourism A Modern Synthesis (5th ed.). Routledge.

Richards, G. (2021). Rethinking cultural tourism. Edward Elgar Publishing.

Richards, G. (2022). Urban tourism as a special type of cultural tourism. In Research Agenda for Urban Tourism (van der Bo, pp. 31–50). Edward Elgar. https://doi.org/10.4337/9781789907407

Richards, G. (2025). Dynamics and challenges in urban tourism. Barcelona Metropolis, (133).

Russo, P., & Richards, G. (2016). Reinventing the Local in Tourism: Producing, Consuming and Negotiating Place. Channel View Publications.

van der Borg, J. (2022). A Research Agenda for Urban Tourism. Edward Elgar Publishing.