Creative Cities Network for Marketing Touristic Products: an Analysis on Literary Cities

In recent years, countries have started to focus on alternative tourism types other than sea-sun-sand triple in order to increase their share in tourism due to increasing tourism competition. They have started to attach high importance to region-specific promotions instead of country-specific ones for the marketing of touristic products. Given that international labels and tags attached to cities or regions increase their brand value and the number of visitors. The Creative Cities Network, created by UNESCO, provides a competitive advantage for the marketing of tourist destinations. The title of Literature City is one of seven different themes that formulate the Creative City concept and has been given to twenty cities between 2004-2015. What features of these cities stand out most and the selection parameters are the main concern of this study. Content analysis is made on the interviews conducted with the authorities executing the application process. As a result, prestige, recognition and efficiency stand out as the most significant variables for creative cities network.