Event Management, Vol. 20, pp. 000–000 1525-9951/16 $60.00 + .00 Printed in the USA. All rights reserved. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3727/152599516X14538326025152 Copyright © 2016 Cognizant, LLC. E-ISSN 1943-4308 www.cognizantcommunication.com 1 Address correspondence to Laurentina Vareiro, Ph.D., Professor of Economics at the School of Management, Polytechnic Institute of Cávado and Ave, Campus do IPCA, 4750-810 Barcelos, Portugal. E-mail: lvareiro@ipca.pt EVALUATING THE GUIMARÃES 2012 EUROPEAN CAPITAL OF CULTURE: NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL TOURISTS’ BEHAVIORS AND PERCEPTIONS LAURENTINA VAREIRO,* J. FREITAS SANTOS,†‡ PAULA CRISTINA REMOALDO,§ AND J. CADIMA RIBEIRO‡ *Polytechnic Institute of Cávado and Ave, UNIAG, Barcelos, Portugal †Accountancy and Administration Institute/CECEJ, Polytechnic of Porto, Porto, Portugal ‡NIPE, University of Minho, Braga, Portugal §Department of Geography, University of Minho, Braga, Portugal In 2012, Guimarães hosted the European Capital of Culture (ECOC). An evaluation of this event was needed because public, private, and community funds were involved. This analysis considers tour- ists as external and independent stakeholders who assessed the cultural activities developed during the event as well as the attributes of the city. The main objectives of the research conducted were to assess the visitors’ motivations during the hosting of the Guimarães ECOC 2012, their percep- tions towards the city, and if national and international visitors kept different perceptions of it. For 2 months, in the summer of 2012, a survey was applied to 390 visitors. The results revealed that hosting the 2012 ECOC was a major contribution towards attracting new visitors to the city (though many of the visitors stayed only for a short period of time). Based on tourists’ perceptions, the tangible heri- tage was clearly detached from the set of attributes associated to Guimarães, whereas the intangible heritage was less noted. The Portuguese tourists seem to be more prone to value the tangible heritage than the foreign tourists. Overall, Guimarães received a very positive evaluation relating to the city’s image and, as stated by tourists, visiting it was declared to be highly recommended. Following the obtained empirical results, the need for changing the city’s promoted image emerges, which has been too centered on its tangible heritage. In doing so, it is believed that there will be longer overnight stays by visitors. Key words: European Capital of Culture (ECOC); Image of destination; Mega-events; Tourists’ perceptions 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 PROOF