The nexus between an art experience and creative tourism: Tasmania’s Museum of Old and New Art

The cultural sector is increasingly seen as a potential driver of (tourism) growth by governments, especially in peripheral sub-regions like Tasmania where the once dominant industries have departed. This sector can be a source of local creativity, social inclusion and an attractor of tourists. Occasionally, the creation of an iconic cultural entity serves this purpose with minimal input of public resources. Such a case is provided with the opening of the privately owned and operated Museum of Old and New Art (MONA) in the state of Tasmania, Australia in 2011. This article analyses the relationship between MONA and its creative tourism experience, and the government of Tasmania. A particular focus is thereby on how those actors use the concept of a place-based creative art experience to attract tourists with events and exhibitions. In this respect, the MONA case shows that the concept of creative tourism is far more complex than just taking a "creative" approach. Moreover, it argues that using creative and cultural tourism experiences for place branding strategies will only be successful if the strategies are mutually agreed upon amongst all stakeholders. In this sense, the article stipulates a discussion on stakeholder relations in the creative tourism sector.