European capital of culture and its significance for tourism and culture: The case of Krakow 2000

Abstract

The ambivalence concerning the tourism-culture relationship is especially pronounced in post-communist European countries. Cultural tourism is regarded not only as a source of revenue but also as a means of projecting image. The European Capital of Culture (ECC) program has implications for tourism and image-generation. The Polish city of Kraków, designated an ECC for 2000, provides a case study for examining these issues. Managers in Kraków's tourism and culture sectors were interviewed to elicit their perceptions about the impact of the program. They expressed the opinion that much of the justification for ECC 2000 was image-enhancement and tourism promotion. They did not see the effects on cultural life as positive: creativity, innovation and long-term development were not encouraged. The paper examines the implications of cultural policies for other managers in the cultural sector.