Tourism and identity reflects in the framework of the Europe 2020 strategy and new competences on tourism attributed to the Treaty of Lisbon that allows for the creation of a a new legal basis entirely devoted to tourism, which should reinforce the EU as the foremost tourist destination of the world.
The study by Marien André, Lecturer of Applied Economics (University of Barcelona), concludes that tourism is a growing industry of special relevance for Europe (since it is the main touristic destination worldwide), also that more attractive cities base their appeal on culture in a broad sense – identity, gastronomy, lifestyle, monuments, museums because tourist pursue unique experiences, therefore a unique identity facilitates city branding. Fianlly she concludes that tourist cities are making an active effort to project themselves (their uniqueness) and this effort in promoting tourism has to be correctly planned to avoid risk of overcrowding, saturation, and even a loss of identity (when cities become theme parks).
In this paper you can also find an interesting preface by Frieda Brepoels, Member of the European Parliament for EFA in the Committee on Transport and Tourism.