A Critical Analysis of how events contribute to destination community development.

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Cultural Events and Cultural Tourism Development: Lessons from the European Capitals of Culture

Yi-De Liu

To cite this article: Yi-De Liu (2014) Cultural Events and Cultural Tourism Development: Lessons from the European Capitals of Culture, European Planning Studies, 22:3, 498-514, DOI: 10.1080/09654313.2012.752442

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Cultural Events and Cultural Tourism Development: Lessons from the European Capitals of Culture

YI-DE LIU

Graduate Institute of European Cultures and Tourism, National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei, Taiwan

(Received August 2012; accepted October 2012)

ABSTRACT One of the major forms of cultural tourism development undertaken throughout Europe has been the staging of a growing number of cultural events. The event of European Capitals of Culture (ECOC) is probably the best example of the new trends of cultural tourism in Europe, which is therefore used in this article to demonstrate some of the key issues surrounding the event-led strategy for cultural tourism development. Based on case study, historical approach and document analysis, this study reviewed systematically the cases, documents and literatures of ECOC over a 20-year period. The research findings point to a number of ways in which the ECOC constitutes a boost for the development of cultural tourism in terms of realizing experience economy, enhancing city image, facilitating urban regeneration, promoting cultural production and consumption, as well as establishing partnerships.

Introduction

Cultural tourism is one of the largest and fastest growing global tourism markets (WTO, 2004)

and has developed to become a significant phenomenon in the travel and tourism industry and

an essential element of the tourism system (Ritzer, 1999; Urry, 2001). The increasing use of

culture to market destinations is also adding to the pressure of differentiating regional identi-

ties and images. A growing range of cultural elements are being employed to brand and market

regions (OECD, 2009). Through the development of cultural tourism, cities or regions can

increase their attractiveness as destinations to visit, live and invest in enhancing their

competitiveness. Cultural tourism can provide alternative sources of revenue for cities

where traditional industries have declined, and whose economies, environment and commu-

nities have suffered as a result (Smith, 2003). Since the 1970s European countries have started

to promote new strategies of development focused on the exploitation of culture, tourism,

Correspondence Address: Yi-De Liu, Graduate Institute of European Cultures and Tourism, National Taiwan

Normal University, Taipei, Taiwan. Email: [email protected]

European Planning Studies, 2014

Vol. 22, No. 3, 498–514, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09654313.2012.752442

# 2012 Taylor & Francis

creative industries and so on, in a prospective view where those elements are seen as new pos-

sibilities to generate economic, social and urban value for cities (Sacco & Blessi, 2007).

Event tourism, a particular form of cultural tourism, has experienced considerable

growth in recent years. For tourism development, events are often seen as a solution to

the problems of product differentiation and seasonality in an increasingly competitive

tourism market. Furthermore, events can provide national and international exposure

which was sufficient to improve the image of the city as a tourism destination. They

also create a variety of recreation experiences for the local and regional market. When

events are staged deliberately to encourage tourist interest, particularly in the off season

or the shoulder season, local residents benefit from the variety, high quality and uniqueness

of the events (Carmichael, 2002). Cultural event in particular is becoming a common

means of economic revitalization, city transformation, destination repositioning, image

enhancement, inward investment and tourism revenue generation etc. (Smith, 2003;

Quinn, 2009). As Richards and Wilson (2004) argued, cities have become stages for a con-

tinual stream of cultural events which lead eventually to the “festivalization” of the city.

In Europe, staging cultural events has been one of the major forms of cultural tourism

development in recent years. One type of cultural event which has come to build up a tra-

dition, and which is particularly important in a European context, is the yearly arrange-

ment of the European Capitals of Culture initiative (subsequently referred to as ECOC).

According to Richards and Palmer (2007), the ECOC program is one of the most success-

ful cultural projects ever launched by the European Union. Evans (2003) also argued that

the ECOC is an example of the European Union’s progressive shift from an almost-

exclusive focus on the creation of common market instruments and regional development,

into more localized city-based initiatives.

The ECOC program was conceived in 1983 by Melina Mercouri, then Greek minister for

culture. The aims of the event were basically to make the culture of the cities accessible to a

European audience, to create a picture of European culture as a whole, and at the same time

as promoting a measure of the European integration (Corijn & Van Praet, 1994; Richards,

1996; Sjøholt, 1999). The first city to receive the designation as ECOC was Athens, in 1985.

Since then, more than 40 European cities have been designated ECOC (see Table 1 for the

list of designation). The origins of the ECOC were arguably purely cultural; however, as the

event has developed, it has been used in different ways by the cities. In general, the main

concern of the host cities has been to gain the economic benefits associated with increased

numbers of visitors, image enhancement and urban revitalization. Although many cities

have claimed that cultural motives remain at the fore of the event, success is often measured

in terms of the tourists it attracts (Palmer-Rae, 2004; Richards & Wilson, 2004).

Although a growing academic literature on the subject now argues that the ECOC is

being increasingly used to further city-branding, image creation and tourism revenue gen-

eration agendas (Quinn, 2010), seldom research tried to investigate systematically the

relationship between cultural events and cultural tourism development. The ECOC

event is therefore used in this article to demonstrate some of the key issues surrounding

the event-led cultural tourism development strategies.

Methodology

This article is based on research conducted using case study, historical approach and docu-

ment analysis. The data collection process started with identifying, gathering and review-

Cultural Events and Cultural Tourism Development 499

ing available academic researches. After gathering over 80 publications relating to the

ECOCs over a 20-year period, the second step is to extract those related to tourism devel-

opment and scrutinize the most successful cases. The data collected are mainly qualitative

in nature, which helps to yield an evidence-based policy implications and recommen-

dations.

To facilitate longitudinal comparisons, quantitative official data-set were also collected

mainly from Palmer-Rae (2004) and the subsequent ECOC reports, volumes I (Richards &

Palmer, 2007) and II (Richards & Palmer, 2009), published by ATLAS. Palmer-Rae

(2004) is a report commissioned by the European Commission with the objectives of doc-

umenting past ECOC cities, making observations on variations between cities and offering

a factual analysis based on documented information, questionnaires and interviews during

the period 1995–2004.

It is worth mentioning that not all the ECOC cities regularly collect statistics such

as visitor numbers, marketing expenditures etc. and therefore sound comparisons

between ECOC cities have often been difficult to draw. However, attempts have

been made whenever possible to comment on trends, similarities and differences

between cities.

In terms of the analytical framework, some models have been developed to identify

the key dimensions of event’s impacts. Carlsen et al. (2007), for instance, introduced an

agenda for researching Edinburg festivals from economic, social and cultural perspec-

tives. The agenda, labelled as “ACCESS”, aimed at addressing the following six

aspects:

. Arts—the benefits for the arts community;

. Culture—the role of festivals in creating, promoting and preserving heritage and culture;

. Community—how festivals meet the needs of the business and wider community;

. Economy—the net economic benefits of festivals;

. Society—the social benefits of festivals;

. Stakeholders—the role of all stakeholders in festivals.

Table 1. List of the ECOC

1985: Athens 2000: Avignon, Bergen, Bologna, Brussels, Helsinki, Kraków, Prague, Reykjavı́k and Santiago de Compostela

1986: Florence 2001: Rotterdam and Porto 1987: Amsterdam 2002: Bruges and Salamanca 1988: Berlin 2003: Graz 1989: Paris 2004: Genoa and Lille 1990: Glasgow 2005: Cork 1991: Dublin 2006: Patras 1992: Madrid 2007: Sibiu and Luxembourg, Greater Region 1993: Antwerp 2008: Liverpool and Stavanger 1994: Lisbon 2009: Vilnius and Linz 1995: Luxembourg 2010: Essen, Istanbul and Pécs 1996: Copenhagen 2011: Turku and Tallinn 1997: Thessaloniki 2012: Guimarães and Maribor 1998: Stockholm 2013: Marseille and Košice 1999: Weimar

500 Y.-D. Liu

More recently, the “Impacts 08” program (Impacts08, 2010), based on the exercises of

the 2008 ECOC Liverpool, identified five main impacts of the cultural regeneration initiat-

ives, including:

. Economy and tourism—include impacts on inward investment, tourism, employment

and job creation, and the strength and quality of the business sector. . Image and perception—assess the positioning/repositioning of Liverpool, as well as the

strength of local identity and self-confidence. . Physical infrastructure and sustainability—include impacts on the public realm, use of

the heritage environment, quality and type of the physical infrastructure of culture etc. . Cultural vibrancy—considers the vitality and sustainability of the cultural system and

creative economy. . Access and participation—place particular emphasis on the impact of direct or indirect

participation and engagement with the Liverpool ECOC on people’s cultural life. . Governance and delivery—focus on the impacts of the processes of management and

development, especially the extensive partnerships built.

Moreover, Richards and Palmer (2010) introduced a model for assessing the “eventful

city”, including: (1) economic impacts; (2) cultural impacts; (3) social impacts; (4) urban

regeneration and (5) image impacts.

After reviewing the main models of event assessment, this study proposes an analytical

framework, which constitutes five critical aspects, including: (1) experience economy; (2)

image shaping; (3) urban regeneration; (4) cultural impacts and (5) partnerships establish-

ment. These five aspects not only reflect the key dimensions of event’s impacts but also

contribute especially to the development of cultural tourism. Table 2 illustrates the analyti-

cal framework of this research relevant to other models. Basically, the social impact of

event was not included since it is less related to the boost of tourism development.

ECOC and Experience Economy

As Western societies increasingly begin to suffer from “experience hunger”, cultural

tourism becomes a means of collecting individual experiences that can be used to

Table 2. Analytical framework and other event assessment models

This study ACCESS (Carlsen

et al., 2007) Impacts08 (Impacts08,

2010) Eventful City (Richards

& Palmer, 2010)

1. Experience economy

Economy Economy and tourism Economic impacts

2. Image shaping Image and perception Image impacts. 3. Urban

regeneration Physical infrastructure

and sustainability Urban regeneration

4. Cultural impacts Arts, culture Cultural vibrancy; access and participation

Cultural impacts

5. Partnerships establishment

Stakeholders Governance and delivery

Others Community; society Social impacts

Cultural Events and Cultural Tourism Development 501

create narratives of the self or provide raw materials for distinction (Richards, 2007).

Tourism and cultural tourism, in particular, have therefore gained importance in the

experience society and have become part of the cultural or symbolic economy and an

important driver of the process of developing “experience economy”, with the develop-

ment of specific experience environments and the repackaging of a range of tourist ser-

vices as experiences (Pine & Gilmore, 1999). Florida (2002) suggests similar

mechanisms for the “creative city”. He argues that the creative atmosphere of cities

with high levels of creativity is enough to attract the highly desirable creative class of

people.

As the experience economy leaned heavily on the development of themed and staged

experiences, the importance of symbolic production and the role of cultural events as a

major source of symbolic content for tourism became more obvious. Events add an intan-

gible component to the physical culture of the city and act as excellent vehicles for experi-

ence production because they are limited in time and imply co-presence (Richards &

Palmer, 2010).

Cultural events are also increasing the sources of creative experiences, which connect

the global space of flows with the local space of places. According to Richards and

Wilson (2006) and Richards (2011), the relationship between creativity and tourism can

be categorized as: (1) creative spectacles; (2) creative spaces and (3) creative tourism.

In terms of creative spectacles, events act as a concentrator in terms of time and space,

forming important nodes in creative networks and providing a direct link between creativ-

ity and tourism (Richards, 2011). Prentice and Andersen (2003) also argue that festival

itself becomes a creative destination, rather than simply an attraction of place-based des-

tinations.

For many post-industrial cities across Europe, the role of cultural events has therefore

been central in developing a tourism destination and playing a significant role in the rede-

velopment of urban areas (Roth & Frank, 2000; Richards, 2001, 2002; Murphy & Boyle,

2006). More and more European cities are trying to develop event-led cultural and econ-

omic policies, such as the ECOC (Richards, 2000). Figure 1 shows that the operating

budgets of the ECOC events have grown significantly, both the capital and operating

budget, since the program began, and particularly since 1990 (Richards & Palmer,

2009). Increasing financial investments in the events need to be justified largely by the

economic returns, especially from the tourist expenditure, so as to realize the experience

economy (Richards, 2000; Palmer-Rae, 2004).

However, experience production strategies based on cultural events do not always

deliver long-term economic benefits, as Richards (2000, 2001) has shown. Figure 2

demonstrates that the ECOC year has had a mixed effect on visitor numbers. Some

cities have experienced significant rises in overnight visitors, but there have also been

cases where the number of visitors has actually declined. The ECOC event itself does

not necessarily lead to a long-term increase in staying visitors. Richards and Wilson

(2006) argued that large-scale events may erode place distinctiveness, leading to a

process of homogenization and ultimately ending up being counter-productive to the mar-

keting objectives of the original place. As McCarthy (2005) explains, the fact that events

may not be culturally embedded in the locality and have but few linkages to local ideas of

identity and local lifestyles is problematic.

More recently, criticizing the relatively static concept of Pine and Gilmore’s (1999)

“experience economy”, KEA (2009) proposed that we are entering a phase of “sharing

502 Y.-D. Liu

Figure 1. Cumulative capital and operating expenditure of the ECOCs. Source: Palmer-Rae (2004) and Richards and Palmer (2007, 2009).

Figure 2. Changes in bednights of selected ECOCs. Source: Palmer-Rae (2004) and Richards and Palmer (2007, 2009).

Cultural Events and Cultural Tourism Development 503

economy”. The concept of a sharing economy involves a process of co-creation between

events and their audiences and publics. It acts as a catalyst to develop shared experiences,

shared values and shared visions about the city. For instance, the successful bid by Umea

in Sweden for the 2014 ECOC was entitled “Curiosity and Passion—the Art of Cocrea-

tion”, and emphasized on developing creativity collaboratively with its citizens and an

open-source approach to culture (Richards & Palmer, 2010).

Therefore, in thinking of ways to create distinctiveness, cities need to look beyond the

commercial providers of tourism products to seek out new and innovative products

(OECD, 2009). As cultural tourists increasingly search for “authentic” experiences of

“everyday culture” and are more likely to avoid commercial products, cultural events

must be rooted in society and in real life (Quinn, 2009).

ECOC and Image Shaping

The projection of distinctive city image can assist in attracting tourists, because tourism

product is to a great extent intangible and image is the only means a potential consumer

has of comparing and making choices about possible destinations (Kokosalakis et al.,

2006). Events are increasingly recognized as a potential tool for image change, and

there is a growing popularity of using the ECOC event for city rebranding or repositioning,

particularly in the case of those cities which had an image based largely on their industrial

past (Ferrari & Adamo, 2006; Richards & Palmer, 2010). By introducing a counterbalan-

cing cultural image, cities could profile themselves on the global stage (Richards, 2000;

Richards & Palmer, 2010).

For example, a sustained significant long-term impact has been the dramatic transform-

ation of Glasgow’s (the 1990 ECOC) image, from being perceived as a violent post-indus-

trial city into being celebrated as a creative cultural and leisure centre and one of the most

vibrant cities in the UK (Palmer-Rae, 2004; Quinn, 2009). Glasgow’s experience demon-

strates that the strategy of using hallmark events linked to image reconstruction pays divi-

dends in the growth of urban tourism (Deffner & Labrianidis, 2005). The study of Garcia

(2005) also demonstrates that the changes to local image and identity are its most impor-

tant long-term legacy.

Following the example of Glasgow, other industrial centres such as Antwerp, Rotter-

dam, Porto and Liverpool have tried to add a cultural dimension to their image by the

ECOC. For instance, after a period of industrial decline, the 2008 ECOC Liverpool

decided to invest in tourism and its cultural heritage in order to bring about the economic,

social and environmental regeneration of the city. The Mersey Partnership and The Liver-

pool Culture Company, responsible for Liverpool’s Capital of Culture 2008 campaign,

along with other organizations, strived to reconstruct the image of Liverpool (Kokosalakis

et al., 2006).

Furthermore, Helsinki, one of the lesser-known European capitals, wanted to reposition

Finland after the fall of the Iron Curtain and the recession of the 1990s and put itself on the

cultural map of Europe with the ECOC (Richards & Wilson, 2004). According to Heikki-

nen (2000), in the context of the image transformation of Helsinki, information technol-

ogies have been given a specific symbolic meaning. Thus in the year 2000, Helsinki is

presented as “a city of the future”, where culture and information technologies are

closely articulated. The international promotion of Helsinki might affect not only the

external image of the city, but also the ways in which the city is perceived from the inside.

504 Y.-D. Liu

In cities, which already had a specific cultural image, such as the historic city of Bruges

and Avignon, there was an attempt to add new or reinforce dimensions of culture. For

example, in Bruges (the 2002 ECOC), a city which already attracts 3 million visitors a

year, one of the major aims was to convince more day visitors to stay overnight,

thereby increasing the economic impact of tourism (Richards & Wilson, 2004). An

additional aim of the Bruges was to shift the image of the city away from that of an his-

torical city with traditional cultural heritage by adding elements of contemporary culture,

an aim shared by the other ECOC of 2002: Salamanca, in Spain. Similarly, Avignon is

representative in aiming to promote cultural tourism and reinforce the image of

Avignon as an important cultural city (Palmer-Rae, 2004).

Table 3 demonstrates that many large cities have marketing budgets running into tens of

millions of Euros and other cities do a very effective job of marketing their activities with a

very small level of investment. It means that an event does not always guarantee that the

desired place image is attained. Money needs to be spent effectively. Table 3 also reveals a

little correlation between marketing spend and the generation of visits to the city. There-

fore, image generation in itself does not ensure tourism inflow. In many cases, in fact, if the

event is not sustained or followed-up by strategic marketing initiatives or valid invest-

ments, no significant medium- to long-term changes to local place image will stem

even from a well-executed event (Ferrari & Adamo, 2006).

For example, the Romanian city of Sibiu arguably benefited more in image terms in the

ECOC year, simply because before 2007 the city effectively had no image outside

Romania. However, the surprise factor that helped Sibiu in 2007 appears not to have deliv-

ered a lasting image improvement post-ECOC for that city. Sustaining the image beyond a

major event requires a comprehensive longer-term strategy; without this the “halo effect”

of a successful event can be easily eroded in a short time span (Palmer-Rae, 2004).

The 1993 ECOC Antwerp can be regarded as a successful example of sustaining tourism

flows due to its continued promotion and product development. Antwerp views the ECOC

Table 3. Marketing budgets, populations and visits of selected ECOCs

Marketing budget (million E)

Population (million)

Total visits (million)

Luxembourg 1995 2.20 0.41 1.10 Copenhagen 1996 4.70 1.36 6.92 Thessaloniki 1997 8.17 1.08 1.50 Stockholm 1998 12.51 0.74 Helsinki 2000 6.70 0.55 5.40 Bologna 2000 8.20 0.38 2.15 Brussels 2000 3.17 0.96 Prague 2000 2.12 1.18 Reykjavik 2000 1.38 0.11 1.47 Porto 2001 9.50 0.26 1.25 Salamanca 2002 3.67 0.16 1.90 Bruges 2002 5.94 0.12 1.60 Gaz 2003 14.14 0.23 2.76 Luxembourg Region 2007 7.50 0.48 3.33

Source: Palmer-Rae (2004) and Richards and Palmer (2007, 2009).

Cultural Events and Cultural Tourism Development 505

not as ends in themselves, but as means of achieving the wider objectives of the city. In

1994, although the ECOC title had passed to Lisbon, Antwerp continued its promotion

as a cultural city, with the strap line “Antwerp City of Culture 1994”. An organization,

called “Antwerpen Open”, was established in 1998, and has helped maintain a volume

and quality of press and media coverage for Antwerp as a cultural city. It helped to reposi-

tion Antwerp as a European cultural centre and in becoming a fashionable destination for

cultural tourists (Palmer-Rae, 2004).

ECOC and Urban Regeneration

Regeneration can be defined as the transformation of a community or place towards long-

term improvements to local quality of life, including economic, social and environmental

needs (Evans & Shaw, 2004). Major events are seen as a particularly effective catalyst for

city regeneration processes, because they are able to merge tourism strategies with urban

planning and can boost the confidence and pride of the local community (Garcia, 2004).

Richards and Palmer (2010, p. 75) argued that: “events provide an incentive for physical

regeneration of areas of the city and regeneration itself in turn provides an inspiration for

events”.

For many European cities, a key motivation in developing event strategies has been to

recover from long-term economic decline, and many declining cities have used cultural

events as catalysts for urban regeneration, focused on stimulating physical redevelopment,

adding animation to areas of the city and generating economic and cultural benefits

(Richards & Wilson, 2006, 2007; Sacco & Blessi, 2007). Bianchini (1990) also argues

that the main contribution of cultural policies to urban regeneration was probably in the

construction of urban images able to attract visitors. This is especially true of cities that

are keen to develop and promote cultural tourism.

The selection of Glasgow as the 1990 ECOC marked a radical change in orientation for

the ECOC. Glasgow, unlike its predecessors such as Athens, Florence and Paris, was not a

capital city or one of the established cultural destinations of Europe (Richards, 1996,

2000). Glasgow was the first city to use the ECOC as a catalyst to accelerate urban regen-

eration and to boost city image, which resulted in an ambitious program of cultural activity

with an unprecedented level of funding from local authorities and private sponsors

(Garcia, 2004, 2005). The example of Glasgow is often given to illustrate the success

of this event, where the prospects of changing the city go beyond the strictly cultural

goods aimed at the very organization of the event (Balsas, 2004; Herrero et al., 2006).

After Glasgow, the majority of the ECOC cities included broad urban regeneration

among its aims, including upgrade districts of the city, creating cultural infrastructures,

investing in public realm and other infrastructure development (Palmer-Rae, 2004).

Copenhagen, Thessalonica, Stockholm, Weimar, Porto, Graz, Genoa and Lille are some

examples of cities that have linked the ECOC to ambitious urban and regional regeneration

strategies (Garcia, 2005).

For instance, Salamanca and Graz tried to create cultural districts with a number of new

arts venues; Copenhagen renovated the former naval yards in the city centre to house

several national academies. A number of cities carried out renovations of their historic

centre, such as Brussels, Porto, Weimar and Genoa. Thessaloniki and Porto undertook

major urban regeneration projects in the city centre, moving roads, developing derelict

areas and remodelling public squares and buildings (Palmer-Rae, 2004).

506 Y.-D. Liu

Whilst sharing some common goals, the ECOC cities display quite different rationales

for regeneration. For instance, capital cities, such as the 1996 ECOC Copenhagen,

attempted to position themselves in tourism and global city location rankings, including

concentration of creative industry activity (Evans, 2009a). Nevertheless, smaller historic

cities, such as Bruges (the 2002 ECOC) may resist the imposition of contemporary infra-

structures and the influx of visitors (Boyko, 2008). Moreover, the relationship between

culture and the regeneration process can be categorized into three categories: (1) culture

and regeneration; (2) culture-led regeneration; and (3) cultural regeneration (Evans,

2005). For most of the post-industrial cities, such as Liverpool, Rotterdam or Porto, the

ECOC was seen embodying the culture-led regeneration approach, where cultural activity

is seen as the catalyst and engine of regeneration. The activity is likely to have a high-

public profile and frequently to be cited as the sign of regeneration. However, in this

case, it may be risky that the longer-term regeneration strategy and city centre property

developments lacked normally a cultural dimension and there has been little integration

of culture within mainstream urban design, planning or economic development agendas

(Evans, 2011).

Although the ECOC can be seen as catalysts for urban regeneration, regeneration may

sometimes clash and even result in the accumulation of large debts for host communities

and the displacement of local residents (Quinn, 2009). For example, the showpiece devel-

opment of the Porto ECOC in 2001 was the Casa da Música, a new concert hall. In

addition, many parts of the old city were refurbished. The urban regeneration works did

not benefit, but instead disturbed the fruition of the event. The official assessment revealed

that the urban regeneration works in Porto cost E80 million, E16.6 million more than

initially estimated, even though 14% of the works planned were not executed (Balsas,

2004).

Evans (2011, p. 6) suggested thus that “the culture and regeneration story requires

mapping change and effects over a much longer time period. . . One mega-event alone

is seldom enough to elevate or sustain regeneration investment to achieve competitive

city or cultural city status and the social and economic benefits that are pursued”. The

ECOC, in general, is only one part of the long process of revitalization. For example,

the hosting of 2008 ECOC can be traced back as far as 1984 when Liverpool hosted the

Garden Festival.

The Cultural Impacts of ECOC

Cultural events can contribute to cultural development by creating demand for the culture,

enhancing venue infrastructures, encouraging local creativity and animating local involve-

ment. In the case of the ECOC, a number of researchers have considered the cultural

impacts within host cities (Quinn, 2006, 2010). According to Richards and Palmer

(2010), there are two dimensions of cultural impacts, which are associated with the devel-

opment of cultural tourism—levels of cultural participation and levels of cultural pro-

duction.

In terms of cultural production, cultural events can contribute to the cultural and crea-

tive sectors, not only providing direct income to cultural producers, but also acting as a

source of ideas, skills and opportunities (Richards & Palmer, 2010). According to a longi-

tudinal research conducted by Garcia (2005), the 1990 ECOC offered a dramatic engine

and profound catalyst for the continuing creative and cultural development of Glasgow.

Cultural Events and Cultural Tourism Development 507

Events can also boost the creation of cultural infrastructure. New cultural facilities, ani-

mated with activities, can give an important impulse to the cultural life of the city and is

often a central element of event legacy planning (Richards & Palmer, 2010). In the case of

the ECOC in Lille in 2004, the city intended to use the designation “2004 ECOC” as an

opportunity to change the perception of the city in a national and international perspective.

The improvement of cultural facilities for artists and residents was of particular impor-

tance. Twelve “Maisons folies”, new and improved exhibition venues, were built, provid-

ing a lasting legacy of the Lille 2004 event and spreading cultural production and

consumption through the region. All of the new cultural venues launched during 2004

are still operating now (Mittag & Oerters, 2008).

Events can create not just physical spaces, but also symbolic and “creative spaces”, as

emphasized by Evans (2009a, 2009b). The role of events as meeting spaces is both a

means to develop creativity, and of providing platforms for the confrontation of difference,

which can then be transformed into a source of social creativity (Richards & Palmer, 2010,

p. 476). These synergies offer a stimulus and new impulses that will impact on the entire

cultural offer of a city. The 2007 ECOC Luxembourg, for instance, introduced a number of

new cultural and creative spaces to the country. These included old railway sheds, former

steelworks and warehouse etc. The innovation of Luxembourg’s cultural policy lies in not

only the reuse of old industrial spaces to attract new audiences, but also the emphasis on

creative, active participation rather than passive spectatorship (Luxembourg & Great

Region, 2008).

Moreover, events can be a catalyst for creating a longer-term and permanent coordinat-

ing body to run major cultural events for the city. It is the case for the 1993 ECOC Antwerp

and 2004 ECOC Lille. In Antwerp, the creation of “Antwerpen Open” as a central organ-

ization to develop, stage and manage cultural events following the ECOC was a major

factor in ensuring sustainability of the event programme. Every year Antwerp hosts

around 120 major events (Richards & Palmer, 2010). Similarly, in Lille, “Lille 3000”

was established as the successor organization of the association “Lille Horizon, 2004”.

It is in charge of the cultural development in the region in order to retain the dynamism

of the ECOC year. A new and major cultural program was launched, every 2 years, by

Lille 3000 (Sacco & Blessi, 2007; Mittag & Oerters, 2008).

In terms of cultural consumption, one of the rationales for staging major cultural events is

the spin-off effect that these have for other cultural attractions in the city. Table 4 shows that

the ECOC has in most cases boosted cultural audiences quite significantly when compared

to previous years. In general, the majority of visitors combined a cultural event with a fixed

cultural attraction, particularly museums and monuments. For example, in Rotterdam in

2001, over 36% of ECOC visitors combined their trip with a visit to another permanent

attraction and 49%. In Sibiu in 2007, the proportion of multiple visits was even higher,

with over 60% of visitors having attended another attraction (Richards & Palmer, 2010).

However, cultural impacts of mega events are not always positive. Palmer-Rae (2004)

indicated problems with “cultural fatigue” in some ECOC host cities. In Thessaloniki in

1997, many projects were poorly attended—only one-fifth of ticketed events had 75%

capacity or more, while over one-third sold less than 35% of their seats. Even big-name

events could not be sure of a high turn-out. Deffner and Labrianidis (2005) in their analysis

of the Thessaloniki 1997 ECOC programme show that the relatively low attendance rates

were attributed to the excessive supply of events in 1997, the concentration of events

during the summer tourist season in Greece, and the very large number of similar

508 Y.-D. Liu

events aimed at the same audience. It seems likely that the audience was simply saturated

by events, a cultural programme six times larger than previous years in Thessaloniki.

In Prague 2000, there was a slightly different problem: The cultural programme was

composed mainly of events that would have taken place anyway as part of the cultural

calendar. There was a strong feeling that there was no need for new projects because so

much already exists in Prague, namely Prague is “overloaded” with culture (Richards &

Palmer, 2010).

ECOC and Partnerships Establishment

As proposed by OECD (2009), the key aspect of cultural tourism development is to build

an effective partnership between tourism and culture sectors. However, creating effective

collaboration is always a challenge because the tourism and cultural sectors often seem to

be speaking a different language. This is largely to do with the basic differences between

culture and tourism. The two sectors are characterized by different industry structures and

practices, different objectives and philosophies, and in some cases different revenue

sources (Hughes et al., 2003).

Mega events, such as ECOC, could be catalyst for establishing partnership between the

tourism and cultural sectors. Palmer-Rae (2004) argues that the degree of collaboration

between the cultural and tourism sectors in ECOC can have significant implications. The cul-

tural sector stands to benefit from a growth in visitor numbers and increased attention gener-

ated by the event, and the tourism sector should be able to benefit economically from ECOC.

In some cities, ECOC was viewed as an event and in others as processes of development

through which creative ideas were formed and took shape, including the creation of new part-

nerships and alliances between different groups. For example in Weimar (the 1999 ECOC),

hotel owners collaborated to form a marketing company, Weimar Kulturstad, which aimed to

market the city abroad as a cultural destination. In Reykjavik (the 2000 ECOC), the ECOC

helped to open a dialogue between the two sectors, which led to the creation of a new organ-

ization responsible for tourism, city marketing and events (Palmer-Rae, 2004).

Apart from partnership between tourism and culture, it is also important to build other

forms of partnership, for example between the public and private sectors, with other

Table 4. Increase in cultural visits during selected ECOCs

Museum/exhibitions Performance

Glasgow 1990 +40% Dublin 1991 +72% +31% Madrid 1992 +10% +21% Antwerp 1993 +87% +2% Lisbon 1994 +50% Luxembourg 1995 +50% +45% Copenhagen 1996 +13% Weimar 1999 +110% Bologna 2000 +17% Luxembourg Region 2007 +14% Liverpool 2008 +30%

Source: Palmer-Rae (2004) and Richards and Palmer (2007, 2009).

Cultural Events and Cultural Tourism Development 509

regions, and between a region and its citizens (OECD, 2009). Working with the private

sector is essential for attracting investment and continuing to improve the quality of

both the cultural and tourism offer. For instance, Helsinki (the 2000 ECOC) was governed

by a Foundation, which included representatives of National, Regional and City auth-

orities, as well as the private sector and universities. The production of almost all projects

was decentralized and external to the Helsinki 2000 organization. The major benefits of

this model were seen to be the creation of new partnerships and new operators in the

field and new ways of working and networking across disciplines (Richards & Palmer,

2010). Lille 3000, as mentioned earlier, is supported by an impressing array of private

partners and small local business actively involved in delivering new and major cultural

programs (Mittag & Oerters, 2008).

Second, links between regions can extend the cultural opportunities available to tourists

and help to support new and innovative product offers (OECD, 2009). Lille 2004 was the

first ECOC to expand the cultural programme geographically to the entire Nord/Pas-de-

Calais region and parts of Belgium, more precisely to 193 cities, towns and villages,

where 2500 cultural events took place. These networks included local organizations, trans-

national institutions and partnerships with local businesses and companies. This was not

only meant to reshape the area as a cultural space, but also to attract economic investments

to the region. As this strategy proved successful, other ECOC, such as Luxemburg in 2007

and the Ruhr in 2010, followed the concept and involved the entire region (Sacco & Blessi,

2007; Mittag & Oerters, 2008).

Third, convincing residents of the benefits of tourism development is increasingly

crucial as they come to form the core of the cultural and creative tourism experience.

Migrant groups among the resident population are also important partners, not only

because cultural diversity adds to the attractiveness of regions, but also because their

links with their home culture can also provide important motivations for visitation

(OECD, 2009). For instance, one of the specific aims of the Rotterdam ECOC in 2001

was to create unity in diversity—marked by the slogan “Rotterdam is Many Cities”. Rot-

terdam succeeded in developing arts programmes related to different neighbourhoods and

bringing different groups together. The theme “Rotterdam is many cities” was also a refer-

ence to the redevelopment process as well as a reflection of its cultural diversity (Richards

& Wilson, 2004; Crespi-Vallbona & Richards, 2007).

Finally, the partnerships built up through the organization of events have the potential of

being maintained far beyond the short life of event. Arcodia and Whitford (2007) propose

that events can both revitalize existing and develop new partnership. These community

networks ensure a high level of social connectivity by re-introducing a healthy relational

dimension to societies. The above-mentioned permanent coordinating bodies to run major

cultural events for the city, such as Antwerpen Open and Lille 3000, are good examples.

Conclusion

Cultural tourism is regarded as a means of supporting culture and economic development

as well as increasing the understanding between different cultures. In Europe, many cities

are now actively developing event-based strategy as a means to develop comparative

advantage in an increasingly competitive tourism marketplace, and to create local distinc-

tiveness in the face of globalization. The ECOC has provided resources for the growth of

tourism, urban and economic regeneration, and materialization of a plurality of cultures.

510 Y.-D. Liu

ECOC, as a major arena for cultural events generates thus an ideal setting in which to

explore questions related to the development of cultural tourism (Palmer-Rae, 2004).

However, for each city, the ECOC lasts for only 1 year. Unless the opportunity is

firmly grasped, there is no guarantee of major long-term benefits (Deffner & Labrianidis,

2005).

Examining the historical evolution of the ECOC events, the study findings point to a

number of ways in which the ECOC constitutes a boost for the development of cultural

tourism in terms of realizing experience economy, enhancing city image, facilitating

urban regeneration, promoting cultural production and consumption, as well as establish-

ing partnerships. It is important for ECOC to recognize the implications of approaches to

maintaining sustainable initiatives. Based on the above-mentioned five dimensions, this

research provides the following suggestions for those cities who attempt to adopt an

event-led policy for sustainable tourism development.

The main concern of the host cities has been to gain the economic benefits associated

with increased numbers of visitors. However, cities have not found it easy to maintain

the higher visitor levels beyond the title year. The reality is that isolated events will gen-

erate short-term benefits. In order to ensure long-term success, cities need to think of way

to create distinctiveness and to provide “authentic” experiences. Cities can also ensure the

achievement of experience economy by staging a series of events in order to convince visi-

tors that there is always something happening in the city.

The latter harbours the danger, however, that the city will become trapped on a treadmill

of investment, requiring a constant supply of events to ensure the visitor flow. It is thus

much more effective to combine events and urban regeneration strategies, which can

help to attract short-term attention to the city, at the same time as new cultural facilities

are being developed to increase the “real cultural capital” base of the city in the long

term (Richards, 2001). It is important to keep in mind that mega event, in general, is

only one part of the long process of revitalization. Its impact and sustainability is

greater when regeneration initiatives are integrated into a total urban development strat-

egy.

Although the ECOC is now a brand in its own right and has the ability to leverage the

media coverage and to raise the international profile of the host city (Nobili, 2005;

Richards & Palmer, 2010), care will need to be exercised in the development of such

event-led strategy. In the longer term, city’s image created or reshaped by events can

suffer from a “waning effect”, whereby increasing levels of investment are required to

generate similar visitor numbers, particularly where there are few traditional attractions

to support the development of cultural tourism (Richards 1996, 2000; Richards &

Wilson, 2006). Sustaining the image beyond a major event requires continued promotion

and product development as well as strategic marketing initiatives.

In terms of the cultural impacts, events can contribute to the cultural and creative sectors

by providing direct income and creative thinking. Apart from the increasing offer of phys-

ical spaces, events can also contribute to the development of symbolic and creative spaces.

Although events can generate extra demand of cultural consumption, attentions should be

paid to avoid the problems of cultural fatigue or cultural overload. Moreover, staging the

ECOC must balance the conflicting demands of culture and economy and of locals and

tourists. Cultural life of the locals must be supported and encouraged in the years follow-

ing ECOC designation if it is to be sustained (Hughes et al., 2003; Palmer-Rae, 2004). All

Cultural Events and Cultural Tourism Development 511

of these cultural impacts could be maximized if a longer-term and permanent coordinating

body is set up and run efficiently.

Finally, given that the cultural sector can benefit from a growth in visitor numbers and

increased attention, and tourism can benefit economically from ECOC events, the collab-

oration between the two sectors can have significant implications. The development of

partnerships of many different stakeholders is also of primary importance such as the part-

nerships between the public and private sectors, with other regions, and between a region

and its citizens

Systematically reviewing the ECOC, this research provides a crucial step in conceptua-

lizing the role of cultural events in developing cultural tourism and its significance for

city’s competitiveness. For ECOC, there is no simple measure of success, and attempts

to make comparisons between cities are undesirable and difficult. There is thus a need

to undertake continuously further research to examine models of good practices of cultural

events, especially the ECOC, and to highlight trends and common issues that influence the

development of cultural tourism.

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank the editor and reviewers for their many constructive comments and

insightful suggestions.

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