About Creative Iceland
How Creative Iceland was born
I came up with the idea about Creative Iceland after few years of being asked by friends and relatives of the things they could do while visiting Iceland. All of the sudden I realized that I have always been recommending the same things over and over again. So I said to myself that there must be different and unique ways to learn and discover Iceland and in a more personal way.
This situation, combined with my personal appreciation to art, crafts and culture, led me to what Creative Iceland is today.
Creative Iceland was born with the idea of offering travelers a unique and sustainable form of Tourism while at the same time supporting Iceland´s cultural and creative community.
The next step was to put the words into action. So our value is to provide visibility and simplicity to both travelers and creative partners to connect with each other through Creative Iceland´s website.
I hope you find with us a new and different way to experience Iceland. It is a unique country with a vibrant creative community. Arts and any kind of creation can be found everywhere in the country and in every Icelandic home. You will be amazed of the many fascinating stories every local can tell.
I look forward to hear from you as I keep on working in building and connecting Iceland´s cultural and creative community with anyone looking for a more profound way of learning and discovering this beautiful country and its people.
I propose you to challenge yourself and
meet with new people, experience emotions
and open yourself for discovering!
Our mission
To facilitate and foster innovative cultural and creative creation and relationships between people from different backgrounds by supporting co-production and experience of local cultural and creative activities for learning, sharing and self-discovery.
Creative Iceland´s concept is based on research done by Greg Richards, Professor of Leisure Studies at Tilburg University in the Netherlands. He has conducted extensive research on cultural and creative tourism over the past 20 years.
We are very proud and honored for the mention of Creative Iceland in Professor Richards´ working draft of forthcoming book chapter "Challenges of creative tourism".
About Creative Tourism
It is said that Creative Tourism is the new generation of tourism. The concept was defined by Crispin Raymond and Greg Richards in 2000 as:
‘‘Tourism which offers visitors the opportunity to develop their creative potential through active participation in courses and learning experiences, which are characteristic of the holiday destination where they are taken.”
And most recently defined by Creative Tourism New Zealand in 2007 as:
“A more sustainable form of tourism that provides an authentic feel for a local culture through informal, hands-on workshops and creative experiences. Workshops take place in small groups at tutors’ homes and places of work; they allow visitors to explore their creativity while getting closer to local people.”
From left to right: Elena, creative travel writer at creativelena.com and member of Creative Tourism Austria; Fjóla, Project Manager at HANDVERK OG HÖNNUN (Craft and Design Association of Iceland); and Nicolas, founder of Creative Iceland; at the Craft and Design Fair, Reykjavik City Hall, 2014.
Become a creative partner: whether you are currently offering an activity or you would like to create and offer one with us, I would like to invite you to join our growing community of cultural and creative partners.
Creative Iceland - Reykjavik, Iceland
+ 354 615 3500 / info (at) creativeiceland.is