Cláudia Monteiro de Aguiar (EPP, Portugal) presented her draft own-initiative report on the implementation of a European strategy for sustainable tourism to Parliament's Committee on Transport and Tourism on Wednesday 28 October.
For the MEP, the EU will not be able to support the tourism sector in its transition without a structural change within its institutions.
She therefore suggests the establishment of a new governance model at European level and calls on the Commission to strengthen “the organisational, financial and human resources structure of the ‘Tourism’ Unit within the DG GROW, with a view to taking an integrated and efficient approach to tourism”.
Ms Monteiro de Aguiar also calls for the creation of a European Tourism Agency and regrets the absence, in the multiannual financial framework 2021-2027, of a budget line dedicated to tourism, which is however an EU competence.
The Commission is also called upon to draw up a new tourism strategy to replace that of 2010 and to revise the ‘European Charter for Sustainable and Responsible Tourism’ from 2012.
Emphasis is also placed on the need to develop a reference framework for data collection on sustainability, over-tourism and under-tourism criteria, in order to improve decision-making.
Post-Covid-19 recovery. Unsurprisingly, the draft report contains a series of recommendations aimed at ensuring the recovery of the sector and addressing the devastating effects of Covid-19 on the tourism and travel industry.
In Europe, after the gradual reopening of borders, international tourist arrivals were still down by 72% in July and 69% in August - traditionally the two busiest months of the year, the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) said on Monday 26 October.
Globally, the drop in tourism in the first 8 months of 2020 resulted in a loss of $730 billion in revenue - more than eight times the loss incurred during the 2009 economic crisis, according to UNWTO.
In her report, Ms Monteiro de Aguiar therefore urges States “without delay” to apply common criteria for travel (see EUROPE 12556/19). A recommendation on the subject was approved by the EU Council in early October (see EUROPE 12580/6). However, there is no obligation for States to comply with it.
The MEP also calls for testing procedures to be implemented on departure for travellers in order to avoid quarantine periods and asks the Commission to create a European health certification label to guarantee compliance with strict health criteria at the destination point in the EU.
Finally, she regrets that the post-Covid-19 Next Generation EU Recovery Plan does not provide for direct funding for the tourism sector and calls on the Member States to include such funding in their national recovery plans (see EUROPE 12582/23). (Original version in French by Agathe Cherki)