Evaluating the Influence of a Large Cultural Artifact in the Attraction of Tourism

Abstract

Bilbao is an outstanding test case for the impact of an internationally famous cultural facility in a context that otherwise does not lend itself to large flows of tourism. Although early for a complete impact study, the aim of this study is to quantify the influence of the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao in the attraction of tourism and to identify the potential factors that explain such impact in the short run.

The cultural contradictions of the creative city

“…which is the staple of US downtown regeneration (Clark, 2004;Hannigan, 1998), and is an exemplar of hard cultural branding of cities the world over, we can see how the priorities of a particular version of cultural consumption begins to structure investment and social and economic reproduction. One can point to the debates about gentrification in Bilbao (Plaza, 2000), or San Francisco (Jarvis and Pratt, 2006;Pratt, 2002), New York (Zukin, 1982), Sydney (Bounds and Morris, 2006) or London (Butler and Robson, 2003) as elsewhere. As has been noted elsewhere, this impetus has found an excellent partner in the proponents of the 'urban experience economy' where shopping and (a particular type of) culture seek to re-position the city as idealised consumption space (Pine II and Gilmore, 1999).…”

One icon, two audiences: how the Denver Art Museum used their new building to both brand the city and bolster civic pride

“…Essentially, the Guggenheim Museum "put Bilbao on the map" (Ana Maria Guasch and Zulaika 2005, 17), drawing over 800,000 visitors a year. Moreover, the iconic building helped increase sponsorship for the museum, the core of the new tourism economy (Plaza 2000(Plaza , 2007. The Bilbao Guggenheim museum was so successful-earning the city's investment back within seven years, drawing tourists from across the globe, and making Frank Gehry and Bilbao household words around the world-that museums across the globe have tried to copy it (Plaza 2000(Plaza , 2008.…”

Cultural Mapping and Urban Regeneration: Analyzing Emergent Narratives about Bilbao

“…On this route, travellers witness how the old Ripa and Uribitarte quays, with their moorings and freight railways, have become broad promenades boasting leisure facilities. This first part of the route takes us from the seat of the city's political power to the more emblematic headquarters of the new Bilbao's 'tourism power' -a connection that has almost become a metaphor for the city (Plaza 1999(Plaza , 2000. What takes us from one place to another is the memory of how this eminently industrial and commercial port city was dismantled and replaced by another where economic activities are now based on the service industries.…”