Brussels, 22/03/2006 (Agence Europe) - European ministers of tourism and representatives from international and European organisation in the sector met up on 20-21 March in Vienna to discuss the future of tourism in Europe. Under the heading, “Tourism - key for growth and jobs in Europe”, they debated aspects linked to growth and jobs and strategies to implement for promoting business in the tourism sector. The conference was organised under the auspices of the Austrian Presidency in collaboration with Finland, which will take over the task on 1 July, and the European Commission. During the day on Monday, there were two workshops on “Information and Communication Technologies (ICT): instruments for growth and jobs in tourism” and “Tourism and Culture: partnership for growth and jobs”. Ministers also tackled initiatives recently adopted by the European Commission for enhancing the partnership for tourism in Europe (see below). The Austrian Minister in charge of Tourism, Martin Bartenstein, who was chairing the meeting said, “nowadays, tourism is one of the most important economic sectors, as well as one of the most dynamic and most attractive. It is also considered increasingly as a driving force for growth and jobs.”
In 2002 European Ministers adopted a specific resolution on tourism that called for more control and monitoring of the impact of European legislation on tourism, as well as for promoting Europe as a priority tourist destination. The resolution also called on Member States to take more action in promoting this economically promising sector. In Malta in 20 October 2005 the Commission unveiled the strategy is sought to adopt for developing the tourism sector in Member States in respect of national legislation (Member States have competency in tourism: see EUROPE 9054).
In Vienna Commissioner Günter Verheugen, responsible for industry, pointed out the priorities presented in Malta and which had been formally adopted in the meantime. The Commission underlines that, “Although Europe is the most visited region in the world, the level of international tourists coming is lower than the world average”. The Commission also highlighted the importance of taking into account in the strategies being devised, decisive factors such as globalisation, demographic change and transport development, as well as increasing competition from other world destinations, notably Asia. Mr Verheugen stated, “we need to do more to keep our competitive edge. Our proposals add European value to the efforts by member states. They will help to promote the EU as unique tourism destination in a more effective and co-ordinated way.”
The Commission has proposed the following initiatives: 1. More policy-coordination: to make sure that policy initiatives affecting tourism do not development. 2. Improved use of available European financial instruments: Tourism will continue to benefit greatly from the financial support offered by the various European financial instruments. 3. “A European Agenda 21 for Tourism” to promote tourism sustainability: The Commission will present a proposal for an Agenda 21, by 2007, based on input from the Tourism Sustainability Group, composed of the tourism stakeholders. 4. Better regulation: based on the Better Regulation process. 5. Enhancing the understanding of the importance of tourism by providing all decision-makers with high quality data. 6. Better promotion of European destinations: Globalisation has opened up new opportunities to attract tourists from new markets (such as China, Russia and India) via the ”Visit Europe” - web portal. 7. Improving the visibility of tourism: The Commission will continue to work in close partnership with all involved actors to promote the visibility of this important industry working at all levels (local, regional, national, Community and that “European tourism policy should be complementary to policies carried out in Member States”.
The Commission benefited from the Vienna meeting to launch the new “Visit Europe” web-portal announced last year in Malta for promoting destinations within the Union: (http://www.visiteurope.com ).