The Hotel & Tourism Department of the Universidade Federal de Pernambuco (UFPE) will play host to the inaugural ATLAS Americas Conference from June 5-7, 2017. The event will be held in the beautiful and lively city of Recife, on Brazil’s northeastern coast, and is co-sponsored by the Association for Tourism and Leisure Education and Research.
This year’s theme is Tourism and Creativity: New Opportunities for Developing Latin America. Worldwide, activities related to culture, entertainment, games, and tourism generate about US$8 trillion a year, a number that is growing between 7 and 15% a year. In Brazil, the GDP generated by these industries has increased by nearly 70% over the last decade. Yet current global economic problems threaten to put the brakes on this remarkable growth.
The ATLAS Americas Conference is intended as a platform to discuss how links between creativity and tourism could be strengthened to generate steady growth for new and existing Latin American tourism destinations. It will bring together academic researchers, entrepreneurs, policy makers, destination management experts, practitioners, and representatives from destination marketing organizations, governmental and non-governmental organizations.
The conference will be held in English, and will cover a range of sub themes including:
- Destination promotion and the co-creation of experiences
- Creativity and sustainability in the formulation, implementation and evaluation of tourism policies
- Managing creative destinations under social, political and economic crisis
- Cultural and creative resources as a factor of destination competitiveness
- Creativity and innovation in the development of tourism products
- Creative cities as moving forces of the tourism industry
- The emergence of creative and innovative educational tools for the tourism industry
- The role of tourism stakeholders within the creative economy
Authors have the option of submitting either extended abstracts or full papers. Both will be subject to double-blind review by members of the scientific committee. Extended abstracts should be between 1,000-1,500 words, while full paper submissions should be between 4,000-5,000 words. Acceptance will be based on theoretical and empirical significance, methodological consistency, relevance to the theme of the conference and logical clarity. Deadline for submissions is December 2, 2016.
For more information, please visit the conference website.