Re-Imagining Italian Cultural Tourism. Creative Economy in the Face of Crisis and the Case of Museums and Live Music

The present contribution aims at discussing the relevance for the cultural tourism sector of creating lasting strategic alliances with cultural and creative indusries. We will be focusing on two key sectors in promoting and protecting the national cultural heritage, though today particularly impacted by the pandemic as venue-based: the museum and live music industries. Overall, the effects of the pandemic revealed some pre-existing structural fragilities of the national cultural production system and imposed a partial reconsideration of the business models of the Italian creative economy. However, while companies operating in the provision of venue- based cultural services—i. e., in the field of visual and performing arts, live concerts, preservation of artistic heritage, etc. continue to display clear signs of distress, other industries (those more properly “creative” than “cultural”) have, on the other hand, proved to have greater flexibility and more strategic skills to cope with an increased demand for home entertainment through digital content. For these reasons, industries traditionally linked to the cultural field, such as the visual and performing arts, now need new audience development policies, new strategic alliances and convergence with other sectors, new views of cultural space, new resources and knowledge. Thus, the chapter will provide an updated overview on Italian cultural and creative industries and how the involved companies are redesigning their strategies for building relationships with cultural audiences and consumers through digitisation, reinvention of the spaces of fruition, and diversification of labour. Indeed, much emphasis will be placed on the future perspectives and challenges ahead for two crucial industries such as museums and concerts in revitalising Italy’s creative economy and stimulating other entrepreneurial areas to act creatively and successfully interpret the ongoing change.