For peripheral territories, such as rural areas or small sized cities investing on creative tourism (Richards & Raymond, 2000; Richards, 2011) as a wide process of co-creation and exchange of cultural and symbolic experiences can be a good opportunity, not only to retain population and revitalize their cultural and social heritage, but also to enhance creative milieus and foster organic territorial dynamics, reflecting the “sense of place” and the unique and intangible characteristics of local communities (Richards & Wilson, 2006). The way tourists can be embedded in the local cultures to find out about place identities and explore the authenticity of local intangible heritage highlights the role of tourists as co-creators of knowledge and co-producers of experiences (Binkhorst, 2007), but also the active role that the host communities can (and should) play in the process. Taking the CREATOUR project as a case study — a project currently being implemented at national level in Portugal (Norte, Centro, Alentejo, and Algarve NUTS II regions) aiming to develop and pilot an integrated approach and research agenda for creative tourism in small cities and rural areas – this communication intends to present the first results of this pioneering experience in Portugal. Specifically, the discussion will focus the process of places and cultural experiences co-creation, through the creative tourism pilot-projects, and the impacts they induce on territories and local communities where they are implemented.

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