This was the core message delivered by Professor Greg Richards from University of Tilburg in the Netherlands who delivered a public seminar "Tourism, Culture and Creativity" at IFT on 24 April 2012 before a diverse audience made up of members of government agencies, professionals, scholars, students and local residents. The seminar was delivered as part of Prof Richards' visit to IFT from 23-25 April 2012. Prof. Richards is the author of "Eventful Cities" which aims to analyse the processes of cultural event development, management and marketing, and link these processes to their wider cultural, social and economic context. Events offer the potential to achieve economic, social, cultural and environmental aims within broader urban development strategies. He is a Professor of Leisure Studies at the University of Tilburg in the Netherlands. He has worked on projects for numerous national governments, national tourism organisations and municipalities, and he has extensive experience in tourism research and education. During the seminar, Prof. Richards discussed the rapidly developing relationship between tourism and creativity, and how "creative tourism", which enables tourists to discover local cultures through their own creative activities, is becoming a niche in its own right. "Creative place requires creative people. Creative people require creative place. Tourists are always looking for the 'secret corners' of the city. One of the best ways to attract tourists is to have good local lifestyle. People are not only here to visit as tourist but also as people in engaging the creativity in the community which generates income" said Prof. Richards at the seminar. Prof. Richards highlighted the case studies of Barcelona, Auckland, and Edinburg, etc. and their experiences of transforming into world creative cities. Examples such as gastronomy and souvenir contribute in this transformation. Tourists may learn Macanese Cuisine anywhere in the world, but the difference is the authentic Macanese Cuisine can only be learnt here in Macao and that would enable tourists to experience Macao. Souvenir is another way of making tourists involve in the city's creative works and remember the city. In concluding his lecture, Prof. Richards emphasised the immense opportunities that lie ahead for Macao to become a creative world city and to help shed its predominant image of merely a leisure and gambling centre.
