Emerging cultural tourism practices: new opportunities for small cities?

How will cultural tourism develop in the post-pandemic world? In order to look forward, this paper first looks back at the historical development of cultural tourism, from the rarified world of high culture to the mass consumption of pre-covid ‘overtourism’. This also mirrors a growing debate about the function of cultural tourism in cities, from a ‘good’ form of tourism to attract high-spending visitors to problems of overcrowding, commodification and gentrification. Linked to these changes are shifts in cultural tourism practices, the rise of new cultural tourism destinations and modes of travel. We consider the rise of creative clusters and event programs as examples of emerging new practices in cultural tourism, highlighting the role of major events such as the European Capital of Culture. The focus of such major event programmes has progressively shifted to smaller cities, including Pécs in Hungary. How have these changes affected the places that cultural tourists visit, and what are the prospects for cultural tourism in the future?