European tourism ministers met informally in Warsaw on Tuesday 24 June to discuss the future ‘European Strategy for Sustainable Tourism’. As well as helping the sector to overcome the challenges of the environmental and digital transitions, ministers want to make it a genuine vector for regional development.
“We know that tourism will not develop dynamically if we don’t invest in the ecological and digital transition”, said Piotr Borys, Poland’s Secretary of State for Sports and Tourism, at the round table. “These are the key elements that will determine the competitiveness of European tourism”.
Speaking to the press, Apóstolos Tzitzikóstas, European Commissioner for Sustainable Transport and Tourism, gave a few details of the future strategy, which is scheduled for the beginning of 2026. A public consultation was recently launched (see EUROPE 13665/39).
The strategy will be based on the priorities set out in the 2022 Tourism Transition Pathway and the EU Tourism Agenda 2030 (see EUROPE 12719/9) and will also “tackle new trends and emerging challenges such as unbalanced tourism, labour shortages, and new skills and training needs in the tourism sector”, said the Commissioner.
“Tackling unbalanced tourism requires better flow management supported by reliable data, new technologies and AI, as well as through the creation of destination management organisations”, said Mr Tzitzikóstas. He also mentioned the pressure on housing supply and infrastructure (see EUROPE 13640/20).
“In some regions, entire livelihoods depends on tourism, creating both strength and fragility, and they take this responsibility very, very seriously”, stressed the Commissioner. Agila Barzdiene, Lithuania’s Vice-Minister for the Economy and Innovation, explained that the aim is to share more equally the benefits generated by the sector, while helping to reduce the pressure on regions that are struggling with overtourism. She called on the European Commission to play a greater coordinating role in helping the regions to develop in a sustainable way.
Lastly, Piotr Borys, along with his Greek and Italian counterparts, Olga Kefalogianni and Daniela Garnero Santanchè, said they were also looking forward to the EU’s post-2027 Multiannual Financial Framework, hoping that one of its budgetary provisions will be dedicated to the tourism sector (see EUROPE 13366/6). (Original version in French by Anne Damiani)