Brussels, 26/02/2013 (Agence Europe) - As part of the initiative to develop a European policy in the tourism sector based on quality and respect for the environment, the European Commission presented the “Tourism Indicator System Toolkit” on 22 February during a conference in Brussels. This toolkit will be used to provide a way for tourism destinations in Europe to measure and monitor the sustainability of their activities. The toolkit will also help organisations in charge of managing tourism destinations to share and benchmark their progress and performance and create appropriate policies. The Commission underlined that “the tourism sector's competitiveness is closely linked to its sustainability, as the quality of tourist destinations is strongly influenced by their natural and cultural environment and their integration into the local community”. Depending on the successful implementation of the Tourism Indicator System Toolkit, the Commission intends to introduce a European award, based on sustainable management indicators, to promote tourist destinations respecting environmental, social and economic criteria. (IL/transl.fl)