The paper highlights the link between the European Capital of Culture (ECoC) designation and the development of cultural tourism in Europe. Cultural tourism is the fastest growing segment of tourism in the world and is the desirable objective of new defined cultural policies in European cities. According to the European Commission (2012), it is estimated that cultural tourism accounts for around 40% of all European tourism. In general, the European Commission confirms the significant role of cultural tourism in the development of tourism in Europe and one of the most visible tools of this strategy is the designation of the ECoC. Cultural policy has also become an important tool of urban regeneration and in the rebranding of European cities. The case study of Košice ECoC 2013 presents part of the results from the Košice ECoC evaluation project. The Košice ECoC 2013 project was designed as a community led project which was targeted at increasing the cultural consumption of residents rather than the number of foreign cultural tourists. However, the biggest events such as White night attracted a lot of tourists from the wider region. More than 70 million EUR was dedicated to investments, which have significantly improved the culture infrastructure in Košice. The ECoC designation supported the local cultural buzz and led to new local production of modern culture, art and the creative industries. Other visible effects have already been seen in the advantages gained by the decentralization of the cultural infrastructure and events in the neighbourhoods. The involvement of people outside the city centre has avoided gentrification in the city. From this point of view the project Košice ECoC 2013 has had the prerequisite to sustainable cultural tourism in Košice