European tourism:
Commission maps out ideas for the sector's future
The European Commission has presented its ideas on how best to exploit the European tourism sector's competitive potential.
Outlined in a Communication on "Working together for the Future of European Tourism", the Commission highlights the need to enhance co-operation on and the consistency of tourism policies among the stakeholders involved in tourism.
These include the European Commission, Member States, regional and local authorities, industry, associations, and tourist destinations.

The Commission aims in particular to foster tourism's competitiveness and sustainability. Underlining tourism's contribution to sustainable development, with a special focus on environmental and cultural resources, is high on the list of recommendations, in accordance with the "Agenda 21" guidelines(1).

With a view to providing the tourism industry with a political platform and improving co-operation and co-ordination, an annual European Tourism Forum, a key interface with stakeholder groups, is proposed.

The Commission also presented a report on the impact on the sector of the September 11 terrorist attacks. It expects the knock-on effects of these attacks on tourism in Europe to be rather limited in scope and time:
if properly implemented, the measures foreseen in the Communication should help alleviate the impact of any long-term negative effects.
"It is too early to assess the long-term effects of the September 11 terrorist attacks on the sector, but we are confident the decline in the number of visitors to Europe will be reasonably short-lived," said Enterprise and Information Society Commissioner Erkki Liikanen.

"The Commission will work with Member States, the tourism industry and other stakeholders to offset any possible negative effects on the sector's long-term economic growth and to foster its sustainable development".
Europe is the most visited tourist destination in the world, with the most diverse tourist attractions in a single geographic region.

Tourism and related activities account for more than 20 million jobs and 12% of EU GDP. This is one of the fastest-growing sectors in the European economy. Today's Communication aims at raising the awareness of the importance of tourism within the EU economy as a whole.
The Communication is the final milestone of the "tourism and employment" process that was launched four years ago. It is the result of intensive work done since January 2000 with Member States, the industry and major civil society stakeholders, on five key issues:
information, training, quality, sustainable development, and new technologies.

The Commission underlines the importance of exchanging more information and experience among interested parties, to prepare the implementation of the actions recommended in the Communication.

Some of the key activities advocated in the Communication are:

Promoting dialogue with the tourism industry and other interested parties by holding an Annual Tourism Forum and extending the remit of the Advisory Committee on Tourism,

Fostering networking services and support functions, for instance through competence centres (observatories, study and research centres) at national, regional and local levels,

Ensuring good use of the EU's financial and non-financial instruments to the benefit of the tourism industry, in co-operation with national and regional authorities, and with operators,

Promoting sustainable development by further elaborating on and implementing the "Agenda 21" guidelines,

Defining and disseminating assessment methods and tools (quality indicators and benchmarking) necessary for monitoring the quality of tourist destinations and services.

For further information please visit:

http://europa.eu.int/comm/enterprise/services/tourism/index_en.htm

(1) Agenda 21, presented by one of the working groups contributing to the Communication, is an input for the September 2002 Johannesburg World Summit on Sustainable Development

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