Brussels, 11/03/2014 (Agence Europe) - Participants at a high level conference on coastal and maritime tourism held on 10 March in Athens, and chaired by the Greek Presidency in cooperation with the European Commission, said that tourism is a fast growth sector and is expected to play a greater role in the future as a means of boosting growth and job creation in Europe. Olga Kefalogianni, the Greek minister for tourism, chaired the debates and stated that “both Greece and Europe foresee that tourism could contribute significantly to economic growth (…) The Greek Presidency promotes those policies that give Europe (the world's top tourist destination) the opportunity to maintain its position by enhancing the existing policies through the generation of new job opportunities and income.”
The conference was organised in the morning of 10 March and enabled stakeholders to discuss the challenges, problems and opportunities in the maritime tourism sector. The Commission has recently published a communication on a European coastal and maritime tourism strategy that contains 14 different action areas (see EUROPE 11023). The conference also provided a platform for exchanging ideas and good practice related to coastal tourism, recreational boating, coastal management, maritime clusters, maritime cultural heritage and cooperation between the public and private sectors. Participants highlighted the dynamic growth being experienced in coastal and maritime tourism, its economic and social benefits, its contribution to regenerating regions and local economies, and its ability to create jobs - which is a valuable contribution in this period of crisis and unemployment. Participants also mentioned what initiatives should be taken to help promote the swift expansion of activities directly and indirectly linked to the coastal and maritime tourism sector.
The ideas exchanged during this high-level conference provided a basis for the debates between European ministers for tourism who were at an informal meeting in the afternoon of 11 March. European Commissioner for Fisheries and Maritime Affairs Maria Damanaki also took part in this meeting. She put forward three proposals that the Commission had recently adopted in the tourism sector - the first involves the European strategy for coastal and maritime tourism, previously mentioned; the second involves tourism that is accessible to disadvantaged groups (people with disabilities and senior citizens); and the third involves the promotion of quality and sustainable tourism. Damanaki also took part in a high-level conference organised in the morning, and said that coastal and maritime tourism was the “backbone” of the coastal economy, accounting for around 3 million jobs. Almost 4 out of 9 holidaymakers go to these regions to spend their holidays. According to Damanaki, the main problems in coastal and maritime tourism involve sector fragmentation (in an area where many SMEs are working), a lack of skills among personnel, and difficulty in accessing funding. Damanaki affirmed that the EU supported sustainable tourism by proposing funding to “those who take care of the natural environment and keep the coasts clean of plastics and pollutants”. She also pointed out that SMEs, for example, could request help from the European COSME programme, which has an envelope of €2.3 billion. In a video message, European Commissioner for Industry and Entrepreneurship Antonio Tajani added: “We should cooperate and ensure that our coasts will be competitive”. (IL)