Regional destination marketing in the Ruhr area

The industrial Ruhr region, which is still struggling with the consequences of structural change, has long been regarded as a source rather than a destination for tourism. In order to make the region more attractive both externally and internally, intensive regional marketing has been carried out for decades. This is a major challenge in a polycentric region without uniform administrative structures. In addition, despite considerable efforts, the image of the Ruhr region among German citizens remains rather subdued in comparison with other German cities, and individual cities still identify more with their surrounding areas than with the Ruhr region. This raises the question of whether the current regional marketing strategy is successful. Should the region continue to market itself collectively, given that it seems to have little in common apart from its coal and steel industry past and that its image is largely negative? Larger cities could also market themselves exclusively on their own, while smaller ones could market themselves together with surrounding regions. Who benefits from the ’Metropole Ruhr’?