ABSTRACT
As an alternative to contemporary linear-extractive models of the economy, the concept of the circular economy has gained increasing popularity. It has been suggested that small-scale tourism and creative businesses’ circular socio-relational activities facilitate regenerative processes for places, natural assets, and all living creatures by prompting a multiplicity of transformative and creative interactions among regional stakeholders. The tourism literature has adopted the concept of the circular economy only recently; however, it has remained mostly conceptual. Against this background, this chapter presents an advanced input–output methodology to assess how regional cultural tourism and major creative subsectors favour the formation of a regional circular economy. Through a brief literature review, the chapter first discusses the relationships between cultural tourism and the creative sectors that are responsible for fostering regenerative processes and are thus crucial in building a regional circular economy. Second, the input–output methodology employed for the Swedish county of Jämtland Härjedalen is introduced. The gained findings demonstrate the crucial role of the cultural tourism and creative sectors in transforming current linear-extractive economies into regional circular economies. The conclusion outlines limitations and sketches an agenda for future research.
circular economy, cultural tourism, creative sectors, input–output methodology, regionalization
