In increasing urban competition, cities seek new, strategic approaches to gain recognition, enhance attractiveness, and foster sustainable development. This master's thesis explores the concept of city marketing as a key tool in shaping urban identity and exploiting a city's competitive advantages. It presents the development and importance of city marketing, with particular emphasis on the role of city promotion and city branding. An important tool of city marketing is a mega-event, which offers host cities the opportunity for international visibility, infrastructure development, investment, tourism growth, and improving the city's image. Such an event marks an important milestone in a city’s history. The purpose of this master's thesis is to analyze the concept of city marketing through the lens of the European Capital of Culture 2025 mega-event. The analysis focuses on how the project is reflected in the marketing strategies of Nova Gorica and Gorizia, with particular emphasis on the promotion of both cities and the wider cross-border region. The case study aims to examine the effects of marketing communication tools and activities, as well as the interconnection of program and infrastructural projects within GO! 2025. The research provides an initial insight into the effectiveness of selected marketing strategies and their impact on destination promotion, especially in terms of the project's potential to promote the wider region. The findings suggest that the ECoC project significantly contributes to the promotion of both cities and the wider cross-border region.
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