‘Be global, go local’ – innovation and creativity in the development of alternative guiding services in Budapest

ABSTRACT

Based on qualitative research methods, the paper explores the emergence of creativity and innovation in the development of guiding services, and analyses the cultural and spatial characteristics of alternative guided tours developed for niche markets in Budapest, Hungary. The study is part of a 3-year (2011–2014) research programme entitled ‘Creativity and its contribution to niche tourism development – following and creating trends’ that aimed to investigate the potential of niche tourism products in the Hungarian market. In order to understand the development process, characteristics and significance of alternative guiding in the city, a complex methodology of interviews, participant observation and content analysis of service providers’ websites and customers’ feedback on social media sites was used. The analysis suggests that although the impact of these alternative guided tours on the city’s tourist image is currently limited, they contribute to the repositioning of the destination and enrich its ambiance.

KEYWORDS:

• Alternative
• guiding
• creativity
• niche tourism
• Budapest
• Hungary

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

ORCID

Tamara Rátz http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1500-6785

Notes

1 http://underguide.com/legendary-underguide-travels.

2 ‘Hosszúlépés’ in Hungarian literally means ‘long step’, but it is also the name of a popular light wine spritzer (one part wine, two parts carbonated soda water); that is, the brand name may be considered a wordplay with a double reference to walking and to chilling.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Bolyai János Research Scholarship of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences.