While doing some research for our different factors in the current poll on “Economic Environment”, we found an interesting study on tourism. “City Tourism & Culture: The European Experience” is a report commissioned jointly by the World Tourism Organization (WTO) and European Travel Commission (ETC) and provides insights into the expansion of European cities as cultural tourism destinations.

The study provides a conceptual framework for the analysis of city tourism with a cultural motivation and aims to contribute to the marketing and product development of city tourism by throwing more light on the evolution of cultural tourism in Europe from ‘traditional’ to ‘innovative’. Based on the concepts of ’heritage’, ‘cultural’ and ‘creative’ cities, the study clusters destinations according to their predominant cultural product, and analyses the recent performance and positioning of each cluster - as well as their opportunities for future growth.

These are the main conclusions of the report:

• Although city cultural tourism continues to be dominated by the established ‘Cultural Capitals’, there is evidence of a trend towards more trips to smaller destinations and new regions of Europe;
• ‘Traditional cultural cities’ are likely to lose market share to ‘new destinations’ with innovative cultural products and services;
• Product development will thus become increasingly important for cities who want to offer a differential advantage and thereby stay ahead of the competition;
• The development of a ’creative destination’ linking traditional cultural products, services and heritage with the creative industries (e.g. media and entertainment, design, architecture and fashion) will become progressively more important in terms of the competitive advantages of cities as cultural tourism destinations.

The report provides a complete set of data and information on the recent performance of city tourism, on consumers’ profiles, and on trends in terms of generating markets, destination countries, travel patterns and preferred activities undertaken in the destinations. You can have a look at the full report here.

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