Over the last decades, tourism has experienced an exponential growth, expansion and diversification, being considered one of the most important socioeconomic sectors in the world, an essential source of income, employment and resilience for communities in many cities and regions (e.g. Bellini et al., 2017; Romão and Nijkamp, 2017; Weidenfeld, 2018). In this sense, it is increasingly necessary to carry out impact assessment studies given the significance of these activities, but also the concerns they raise, particularly regarding the effects on local resources and host communities. If research on tourism impacts focused initially on the economic dimension, since the 1980s, there has been a growing awareness of the need to develop new assessment methods to more accurately determine the multiple linkages and direct/indirect effects of such activities on economy, society, culture and the environment, as part of broader strategies for sustainable development. In response to the negative effects of cultural tourism and changes in consumption patterns, culture-based creativity is seen as a path to improve more sustainable tourism practices, creating competitive advantages and inducing the economic growth of territories. Thus, many governments have sought to reinvent the image of their territories and differentiate them as creative tourist destinations, encouraging synergies between tourism and the cultural and creative sectors to foster the development of new products, experiences and markets. Despite the popularity and diversity of resources and events that are available in large capitals and metropolises, small towns and rural areas also seek to benefit from the growth of the tourism industry by identifying their unique characteristics and values, proposing a range of experiences oriented to niche markets. In addition, they want to affirm themselves as a sustainable alternative to the problems of congestion and tourism massification suffered by large metropolises. In this sense, tourism activities are proposed to offer unique, authentic and personalized experiences and promote interactive learning through the integration of cultural practices that seek to be rewarding for visitors and locals. There are few studies that attempt to measure the impacts of creative tourism activities, and even less those that seek to go beyond economic impact, in accordance with the principles of sustainability (Buaban, 2016; Korez-Vide, 2013; OECD, 2014; Qiu et al., 2018; Richards and Wilson, 2007; Solène, 2011). They present some conceptual and operational questions due to the nature of these activities, the disparate effects at different levels and territorial sectors and their specific characteristics. Therefore, the goal of this paper is to discuss the theoretical and methodological framework used on the impacts assessment in the field of sustainable creative tourism, aiming to propose a more integrative model that comprehends the different dimensions of sustainability in creative tourism-related initiatives. Methodology: That model will be based on a case study analysis informed by data collected within the scope of the project CREATOUR - Creative Tourism Destination Development in Small Cities and Rural Areas - an ongoing nationwide research-action project aimed at incubating and analyze creative tourism activities in small cities and rural areas of Portugal. This project aims to develop and pilot an integrated approach and research agenda for creative tourism by building strong links within and amongst regions, being informed by theoretical and methodological approaches from the cultural/creative sector development, and tourism and regional development. In the scope of this project interviews and direct observation with 40 pilot-project cases in Portugal have been conducted during 2017-2019, and will be the main data source used for the analysis in this paper. Expected results: Further, the case study will lead us to discuss new challenges in the cultural and creative tourism field, as well as the associated impact assessment practices and how these can provide valid information for the formulation of integrated tourism and development policies in small cities and rural areas.

Projecto CREATOUR