Competitiveness of cities in the post-pandemic time: The perspectives of residents and tourists

The COVID-19 pandemic has sparked an unprecedented crisis in the globalized, modern economy. Cities actively promoting their image faced the challenge of maintaining a positive perception of the place and modifying their offers due to massive coronavirus infections. As a time of gradual stabilization, the post-pandemic period requires cities to introduce or continue appropriate changes in their marketing strategy to ensure competitiveness to the effects of the pandemic. This paper aims to present selected changes in the city offers addressed to residents and tourists during the pandemic and to determine how these changes may affect the city’s image as one of the factors of competitiveness. A review of literature and research published in the years 2021–2022 was used, presenting solutions implemented by cities to maintain a positive image, demand, and stakeholder satisfaction. Examples of changes applied by territorial units are described from the perspective of two primary target groups of the cities: residents and tourists. Based on the analyzed secondary data, the author notes an increase in the interest of local communities in nearby tourist destinations and the need to transform marketing messages that encourage residents to engage in local tourism. Among some of the city’s recipients there was also more attention given to the use of coworking spaces. Also, a positive impact of temporary urban planning on community participation in urban marketing was observed. Referring to the literature related to the city image, these changes can directly affect the competitiveness of cities and support the gradual economic recovery after the crisis caused by the global pandemic.