The greater Boston area does a good job of promoting itself to tourists, mostly due to the natural historical attractions we have. I was in NY recently and saw ads on TV about coming here. I also think the sports teams pull people in, though I don't think we spend on them to the exclusion of cultural stuff. We have great museums, restaurants, and a wide range of outdoor activities.
I get to see a lot of tourists, living in Concord; they are here all year round, with the exception of maybe January and February. The town appreciates them, even if it took a ten year battle to get a public rest room downtown (I lived in a neighboring town when this battle was being fought, thankfully). There's a push now to get tourists to visit west Concord, which is a little more down to earth and has a sizable arts community, alternative health practitioners, a natural foods grocery/pharmacy, and some restaurants.
What I don't see is any promotion to get people to move here. There's a lot of reasons for this, I think. First, we have a large supply of college students who come to the area every year and I think we bank on a lot of them staying. They don't, though, unless they are from the area. Second, housing costs are high here (I still can't believe how low housing prices are in some of the places TE members live), although there really is a pretty wide range of housing choices. We don't have large numbers of huge housing developments and land is scarce for new building. Then, there's the perception of "Taxachusetts," which really went out the window a long time ago. We don't have a sales tax on food or clothing, which is different from a lot of states. And finally, Boston has had a problem attracting professionals from diverse racial/cultural groups because of stuff that happened here 40 years ago. Recently, a very large convention group of African Americans came here after much work on the part of the city. I think the consensus was they were generally surprised at how much things have changed here. However, some places around here are still very "parochial," not just for different cultures, but for anyone who is not a native! Case in point: I was questioned by a co-worker a few years ago, about how I got a low numbered license plate, which indicates you have lived here a long time. There's a good amount of silly prestige associated with this. I was questioned, since the person knew I had moved here from AZ, not knowing I was a native. When I said the plate had been in my family since 1932 and my grandfather willed it to me (yes, this is true) it earned me instant brownie points. Seriously, this is stupid, but it indicates the attitude of a lot of "townies" around here.