Title: Tourism and European capitals of culture: the role of destination competitiveness governance

Authors: Krassimira Paskaleva, Edith Besson, Margaret Sutherland

Addresses: Herbert Simon Institute, Manchester Business School 8.30 Harold Hankins Building, Booth Street West, Manchester M15 6PB, UK; Institute for Technology Assessment and Systems Analysis, Karlsruhe Research Centre, Hermann-von-Helmholtz-Platz 1, 76344 Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen, Germany. ' CNRS laboratory LATTS, Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chaussees (ENPC), 6-8 Avenue Blaise Pascal, Cite Descartes, Champs-sur-Marne, 77455 Marne-la-Vallee, Cedex 2, France. ' School of Planning, Architecture and Civil Engineering (SPACE), Queen's University of Belfast, 2 Lennoxvale, Belfast BT9 5BY, Northern Ireland, UK

Abstract: Cultural tourism – let alone its urban dimensions – is said to require integrated, whole system thinking to bring about the sustainable and competitive destination. This paper explores how these contending forces are being played out in tourist cities participating in the European Capital of Culture Programme (ECOC). Specifically, the potential of ECOC as a cultural tourism response strategy is examined through literature review and case studies. Destination competitiveness governance is proposed as a framework for evaluation. Innovation of policy in the discourses of the city and cultural tourism is discussed as a co-creation of activity and process that stems from the stakeholder interaction.

Keywords: cultural tourism; European capitals of culture; destination competitiveness; governance; evaluation framework; policy innovation; tourist cities.

DOI: 10.1504/IJTP.2009.023276

International Journal of Tourism Policy, 2009 Vol.2 No.1/2, pp.107 - 123

Published online: 16 Feb 2009 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article