Urban tourism
A new section by City Mayors

City Mayors has added a section on tourism to its editorial programme. Articles will examine the importance of tourism to city economies. Case studies, such as the already published article on Cologne and on Civic Tourism, illustrate cities’ efforts and achievements in promoting international tourism and increasing visitor spending. City Mayors will emphasise the importance of sustainable urban tourism and how it can become a catalyst for regeneration. The following brief examples illustrate the range of topics City Mayors plans to deal with.

For many cities urban tourism is their number one industry, generating not only rising income but also underpinning many regeneration projects. The University of Gloucestershire (United Kingdom) says in its prospectus that tourism and culture had been catalysts for large-scale urban developments internationally, from cultural facilities such as the Guggenheim Museum, which provides a focal point for urban regeneration in Bilbao, to the Sydney Olympic Games and the Manchester Commonwealth Games as sources of urban renewal.

New York, which, with more than 40 million tourists per year, is the most visited US city, earned US$220 million through hotel taxes alone in 2004. Direct spending by tourists amounted to $15.1 billion. In total, the tourist industry is worth $23 billion to the New York economy and supports more than 250,000 jobs. International tourists make up 13.3 per cent of all visitors to New York but they are responsible for 40 per cent of visitor spending.

Cities all over the world make special efforts to attract foreign tourists. In his article for City Mayors ‘Cologne starts China Offensive to attract tourists and business’ Gregor Gosciniak says that for Cologne attracting tourists and business investment are two sides of the same coin. “The tourist office’s ‘China Offensive’ is supported by the chamber of commerce, the Cologne Trade Fair and the airport authority,” he writes.

Tourism is also big business for Hong Kong. In October 2005, the city welcomed 2.1 million visitors, with almost half coming from countries other than Mainland China. Overnight visitors spent more than HK$61 million (US$7.9 million). Their spending in October 2004 was HK$48.8 million. The expenditure of cruise passengers shot up by 196 per cent from HK13 million in October 2004 to HK$38 million one year later. Day visitors spent HK$5.6 million.

Published to date:
Civic Tourism can help
preserve historic towns
Civic Tourism begins with what some consider an outlandish claim, which is that tourism, one of the largest industries in the world, could help communities preserve their quality of life. The industry’s argument generally ends with ‘economic development,’ but we’re suggesting tourism could help protect historic neighborhoods, save the environment, and preserve cultures – in addition to strengthening the economy. Does it always? No, and some people argue tourism does the opposite, that it ruins ‘sense of place,’ that it’s the problem. We’re suggesting tourism can be part of the solution. More

Historic Cities
Living Cities
City Mayors' series 'Historic Cities - Living Cities' features thriving towns and cities from 71 countries, which have made significant historic contributions to urban development. Many of the cities, initially chosen for the series, are World Heritage sites or contain historic institutions and monuments and have contributed to social, political, cultural and architectural achievements in Europe, the Americas, Asia and Africa. More

Eight cities in final round
to become ‘British Vegas’
Eight British cities and towns have made it into the final round of bids to build the country’s first ‘super-casino’. Of 27 applicants, the final eight will have to make a further case to be chosen as the site for Britain’s only Las Vegas-style unlimited gambling hotspot. The already unsuccessful candidates expressed dismay at the decision of the government’s new Casino Advisory Panel, though 16 licenses for smaller casinos will also be awarded. More

Cologne starts China Offensive
to attract tourists and business
The City of Cologne together with the Cologne Tourist Board, the Cologne Trade Fair, the Cologne/Bonn Airports and the Cologne Chamber of Commerce have embarked on a joint initiative to attract more Chinese companies and visitors to the city. Cologne hopes to double the number of Chinese business investors as well as to increase the number of tourists from China. The intention is to strengthen Cologne’s role as a gateway to Germany and Europe for Chinese tourism and business. More

For one month Cologne will be home
from home for Brazilian football fans
From 9 June to 9 July this year, Germany will host the 2006 Football World Cup, which will be staged in 12 German cities. The country’s Rhine metropolis Cologne, where five World Cup games are scheduled to be played, will welcome teams from Angola, Portugal, the Czech Republic, Ghana, Sweden, England, Togo and France as well as two teams that made it into the second round of the competition. City Mayors’ European Editor, Gregor Gosciniak, interviewed Karl-Heinz Merfeld, Chief Executive Officer of the Cologne Tourist Board, about his expectations and how Cologne marketed itself among Brazilian football fans. More

Ouro Preto, a city conceived
by artists and built by slaves
A beautiful example of Brazilian baroque architecture, Ouro Preto is a rare jewel carved in the mountains of Minas Gerais. It was conceived on European models by artists, and built by slaves. And the result was the creation of a national style. But as mining activities declined at the end of the eighteenth century, so did the city’s intense social life. The city was reduced to an organ of state-administered bureaucracy and when the seat of government – the state capital - was transferred to Belo Horizonte, the isolation was complete. More

Fought over for many centuries, Madurai
is one of India’s most remarkable cities
Madurai is one of the oldest cities of India, with a history dating all the way back to the Sangam period of the pre-Christian era. The glory of Madurai returned in a diminished form in the earlier part of this millennium; it later on came under the rule of the Vijayanagar kingdom after being ransacked by the ravaging armies of Delhi (Malik Kafur). During the 16th and 18th centuries, Madurai was ruled by the Nayak Emperors, the foremost of whom was Tirumalai Nayakar. The Sangam period poet Nakkeerar is associated with some of the Tiruvilayaadal episodes of Sundareswarar - that are enacted as a part of temple festival traditions even today. More

Dresden: Building a modern city
on 800 years of European history
Seventeen years after the Berlin Wall came down and communism finally disappeared from the German map, the City of Dresden, the capital of the East German state Saxony, continues to develop without respite and is already acknowledged as being among the most beautiful cities in Europe. More