In tourism there is a shift towards more active, cultural holidays. The attractiveness of urban culture and most other aspects of city life receive growing attention from tourists. How to deal with these opportunities is a challenge to the tourist industry as well as to local and regional governments. While the industry is interested in market shares and profits, local governors in many cities are in search of new promising economic functions; the tourist function is evidently one of them. Tourism can contribute to improving the local economy: better tourist products enhance the city's quality of life, a factor of increasing importance when it comes to choosing a business location. How do cities act in this respect? How do newcomers try to conquer a position on the highly competitive market? And what do established destinations do to safeguard their position? This book is the result of a comparative investigation into the role and function of tourism in eight European cities.