© 2018, © 2018 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. The purpose of this study is to examine the role of artists-in-residence in building a tourism destination’s image for creative tourism. It is proposed that artists with an art-residence experience develop a career path that can be measured in terms of four dimensions: art involvement, inspiration, creativity and post-residence activities. Artists in art-residence at the Abu Dhabi Art Hub in the United Arab Emirates were surveyed. Factor loadings as a result of the factor analysis were used as independent variables to perform several multiple regressions, the results of which are presented in a path analysis model. The destination factor particularly strongly affects future artwork creation, which can promote the residence destination. As such, word-of-art can be seen as a new promotional tool for creative tourism.