Tourism is one of the fundamental themes of the competition for the European capital of culture because the title undoubtedly allows cities to be highly visible. And, in our opinion, it is no coincidence that 4 ecoc out of 7 cities have entered the short list to become the European capital of Smart tourism for 2023.

The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has brought global cultural tourism to a standstill, hitting all territories without distinctions and seriously jeopardising thousands of European cultural and tourism professionals' livelihoods. Despite the challenges, the tourism and culture sectors face today a unique opportunity to create new partnerships and collaboration.