EU Sets New European Agenda for Tourism

The European Council on Thursday adopted conclusions setting out a European Agenda for Tourism 2030.

The agenda includes a multi-annual EU work plan with a series of proposals to help member states, public authorities, the European Commission and stakeholders make the tourism sector greener and more sustainable, resilient and digitalised.

As highlighted by the Council in an announcement, the EU is a top destination for both international visitors and its residents.

“However, the Covid-19 pandemic had a particularly devastating effect on the tourism ecosystem and has led to significant losses of income and jobs across Europe: around 11 million jobs in the EU tourism sector were affected by the pandemic in 2020,” the Council said.

Photo source: European Parliament

In 2019, before the pandemic, the EU tourism ecosystem represented 12.9 percent of EU Gross Value Added and 15.8 percent of employment.

Though the sector started to show signs of recovery, Russia’s military aggression against Ukraine has negatively impacted the provision and affordability of travel and hospitality services, for both European businesses and citizens. Increasing energy prices, high inflation and fuel costs also make travel more expensive.

“For this reason, the European Agenda for Tourism 2030 emphasises the need to protect the tourism sector and, at the same time, develop a forward-looking vision to take advantage of the willingness of many Europeans to change their travel and tourism habits so as to become more sustainable and responsible,” the Council noted.

It should be mentioned that the tourism ecosystem is composed of several economic sectors, which have their own specific sectoral approaches, where over 99 percent are micro, small and medium-sized enterprises.

European Agenda for Tourism 2030

The European Agenda for Tourism 2030 describes voluntary concrete actions for the Member States, relevant public authorities, the European Commission, and other stakeholders in the tourism ecosystem to take and encourage.

The proposed actions and outputs provide strategic guidance for following the progress of the agenda in five priority areas:

• Enabling policy framework and governance

Among other things, the Council calls for EU-level common framework for short-term rentals to enhance transparency, make it fairer and improve market access.
The Council also calls for a revised EU framework for tourism statistics which includes indicators on the economic, environmental and social impacts of tourism by 2030.

• Green transition

Among the aims for the green transition priority area is for tourism/hospitality organisations to have reduced waste in line with the Waste Directive 2008/98/EC. The Council calls for the Commission and Member States to provide support to tourism services to reduce their environmental footprint in line with the EU objectives.

• Digital transition

Photo source: Digital Governance Ministry

The Council calls for the Commission, Member States, other relevant public authorities and DMOs to raise awareness among tourism SMEs of the benefits of digitalisation and to support tourism SMEs and start-ups through digitalisation programmes; the Commission to collect and share best practices on digital tools and practices for tourism.
The target is for tourism SMEs to have reached a basic level of digital intensity by 2030

• Resilience and inclusion

Among other things, the Council calls for the enhancement of social and economic inclusion, taking into account the elderly, persons with disabilities and other groups with specific needs. The target is for the EU to have an increased offer of accessible tourism services.

• Skills and support for transition

Among the aims for this priority area is for EU member states to meet skills demand in the tourism ecosystem by actively encouraging skills development and providing training opportunities for the workforce, the unemployed and SMEs.

Press here for details on the Council’s proposed actions.

Following the European Council’s release of its conclusions for the European Tourism Agenda, the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) joined European Commissioner for Transport Adina Vălean in emphasizing the importance of jobs, education and investments for achieving the shared vision for a revitalized sector between now and 2050.

UNWTO Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili and Commissioner Vălean in a joint statement welcomed the restart of international travel across the region. However, they stress that tourism and transport need to “work together” to address the gap in tourism employment by making both sectors more attractive for workers. Additionally, the joint statement notes the importance of investments in tourism as a means of accelerating the shift to greater resilience and sustainability.