European Commission Presents Guidelines for an EU Tourism Data Space

As part of ongoing efforts to facilitate data sharing among member states and encourage innovation which will help personalize services and support decision-making related to the sustainability of their tourism product, the European Commission presented this week a set of guidelines for an EU Tourism Data Space.

The suggested data space will allow tourism businesses and public authorities to share data that will contribute to the development of innovative tourism services, improve the sustainability of the tourism ecosystem and strengthen competitiveness.

According to the Commission, the European tourism data space aims to facilitate data-sharing by businesses, local authorities and academia that will help shape the key features of the data space. An example of this would be data on hotel energy consumption which would help monitor the environmental impact of tourism at a given destination.

Additionally, it aims to promote data access by a wide range of users, including business intermediaries, destination managers, tourism service providers, and others helping businesses, in particular smaller ones and local authorities to create, improve and personalize services and support policies. A start-up offering AI-driven tourism services, for instance, will be able to use more relevant data; a travel agent will have a better overview of offers; or a local authority will have more information on tourism flows.

The EU Tourism Data Space also aims to foster a consistent, trustworthy and efficient framework for governance based on respect of existing EU and national legislation.

And lastly, it aims to ensure interoperability across data domains as well as sectoral data spaces, such as the common European data spaces for mobility, energy, the environment, health, smart communities, cultural heritage, and other sectors linked to the tourism experience.

Authorities responsible for coordination and support actions under the EU’s Digital Europe Program are expected to deliver a blueprint for the creation of the EU data space by the end of the year.