{"id":470163,"date":"2026-11-04T15:46:15","date_gmt":"2026-11-04T14:46:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/2026\/11\/04\/attrattivita-coordinamento-e-una-accademia-ecco-la-strategia-ue-per-il-turismo-sostenibile\/"},"modified":"2026-11-04T17:02:16","modified_gmt":"2026-11-04T16:02:16","slug":"attractiveness-coordination-and-an-academy-this-is-the-eus-strategy-for-sustainable-tourism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/2026\/11\/04\/attractiveness-coordination-and-an-academy-this-is-the-eus-strategy-for-sustainable-tourism\/","title":{"rendered":"Attractiveness, coordination, and an Academy: this is the EU\u2019s strategy for sustainable tourism"},"content":{"rendered":"

Brussels \u2013 Turning the challenges facing the tourism sector into opportunities to boost the sector\u2019s competitiveness, sustainability, and resilience across the European Union. This is the ambition behind the new EU Strategy for Sustainable Tourism<\/a> presented today (4 November) by the European Commission. \u201cThis is the most ambitious, comprehensive, and holistic European policy framework for tourism ever drawn up,\u201d pointed out<\/a> the European Commissioner for Transport Apostolos Tzitzikostas<\/strong>, at a press conference following the approval of the Strategy by the College of Commissioners. <\/span>The Executive Vice-President for Cohesion and Reforms, Raffaele Fitto<\/strong>, speaking alongside Tzitzikostas, highlighted<\/a> that \u201cthe European Parliament, the Council, the other EU institutions, as well as operators in the tourism sector, have asked the Commission for a coordinated response at European level to the various challenges facing the sector.\u201d Therefore, today the Berlyamont Building is \u201c<\/span>providing European tools, benchmarks, and guidelines<\/a> that Member States, regions, and local authorities can use on a voluntary basis, adapting them to their specific needs and priorities,\u201d he clarified.<\/p>\n

Competitiveness<\/strong><\/h4>\n

\n

Tzitzikostas explained that the strategy is based on three main pillars. The first is “competitiveness”. According to the Commissioner, the \u201cshortage of skills and labour is one of the greatest challenges facing the tourism sector today,\u201d causing difficulties for many small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The Commission has therefore decided to establish a \u201cEuropean Academy of Tourism\u201d<\/strong>, with the aim of \u201cproviding essential training, helping businesses and destinations to develop the right skills, attracting talent to tourism professions, and improving working conditions in the sector,\u201d the Commissioner explained. Among the various measures is also greater support for SMEs \u201cthrough a more business-friendly environment, with fewer unnecessary burdens, thanks in part to an EU simplification initiative involving Member States and the sector itself.\u201d Furthermore, the Berlaymont will help \u201cbusinesses to finance their transitions towards a cleaner and more digital future\u201d through the establishment of an \u201cEU Tourism Observatory\u201d to implement data collection on the sector across the Union.<\/p>\n

Sustainability<\/strong><\/h4>\n

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The second pillar is \u201csustainability and resilience\u201d<\/strong>. The Commissioner highlighted that today \u201cmany popular destinations are struggling to manage visitor flows, particularly in summer,\u201d noting that \u201c13 per cent of European regions account for 50 per cent of all overnight stays in Europe.\u201d According to Tzitzikostas, <\/strong>rather than focusing on numbers, we must <\/span>concentrate \u201con lasting value, on safeguarding the quality of life of citizens and residents, and on supporting local communities and businesses.\u201d For this reason, the Commission will commit to developing \u201can EU model for sustainable tourism management, a Council recommendation<\/strong>\u201d on the subject and an \u201cEU toolkit<\/strong>\u201d, with a view to \u201chelping our Member States and our destinations.\u201d These initiatives will be \u201cdiscussed with the Member States so that they are ready for the coming summer season,\u201d the European Commission stated in a working paper<\/a>. <\/p>\n

By sustainable tourism, Brussels means \u201can approach in which tourist flows are in balance with a destination\u2019s availability and capacity to accommodate them,\u201d explains the document. This means that tourism does not have a disproportionate impact on physical infrastructure, the environment or the well-being of local communities. In this context, the so-called “toolkit” will help destinations \u2013 drawing on best practices adopted across the EU and concrete solutions \u2013 to strike the right balance between visitor demand at a given place and time and the destination\u2019s capacity to accommodate them. <\/p>\n

This chapter also covers cruise tourism, as \u201cthe simultaneous arrival of large numbers of passengers can place significant pressure on local infrastructure, the environment, and residents,\u201d the document states. For this reason, the Commission will launch a <\/strong> \u201cCooperation Dialogue on Cruises<\/strong>\u201d, which will bring together Member States, regional and local authorities, industry stakeholders, and civil society.<\/p>\n

With regard to resilience, consideration was given to geopolitical crises and the way in which they may \u201chave a varying impact on traveller confidence, international connectivity, transport costs, and tourist flows.\u201d Although European tourism has demonstrated considerable resilience, the need for greater preparedness and adaptability has been emphasised. Therefore, the strategy proposes a Crisis Coordination Network to improve coordination between tourism authorities in responding to crises<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The EU\u2019s appeal <\/b><\/h4>\n

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“Europe remains the world\u2019s leading tourist destination, but we cannot \u2013 and do not wish to \u2013 take this position for granted,” noted Tzitzikostas. So, the Berlaymont Building is putting forward the “Destination Europe” approach<\/strong>, through which \u201cwe aim to consolidate our international standing by complementing national and regional brands with a coherent and unified message. The working document defines it as \u201ca common branding framework that enhances the visibility and appeal of Europe as a whole in the eyes of international travellers, highlighting the continent\u2019s diversity, which is one of its greatest strengths.\u201d It complements rather than replaces national and regional promotion, drawing on existing market analyses, past and ongoing campaigns, and the results achieved by the European Capitals of Tourism. <\/p>\n

In addition to “Destination Europe”, Tzitzikostas announced that the <\/strong><\/span>European Commission will step up partnerships and dialogue on the sector<\/strong> with various partners, \u201cincluding Japan and India, and very soon also with the Gulf states.\u201d By the end of the year, he will also sign a new Cooperation Framework with the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) \u201cto promote the sector\u2019s competitiveness, sustainability, and resilience.\u201d In order to \u201cencourage visitors to discover more of Europe, explore new destinations and travel throughout the year,\u201d it will propose the establishment of the “European Capitals of Tourism” award, designed to \u201crecognise destinations that promote sustainable, balanced, and innovative tourism, while taking initiatives to attract visitors to lesser-known destinations and enhance their experience.\u201d <\/p>\n

Finally, Fitto noted that \u201ctourism and affordable accommodation are complementary priorities\u201d and that the Strategy adopted today and the Housing Plan<\/a>, recently adopted and criticised<\/a> by the European Parliament, \u201cshare the same objective: to make tourism more sustainable, more balanced, and more beneficial for the people who live and work in our regions,\u201d he added. \u201cWe are sending out very clear messages. For example, with the revision of the current regional policy programme under the mid-term review<\/a>\u201d under cohesion policy, \u201cwe have included housing as one of the five new priorities and have allocated \u20ac35 billion to the five priorities, of which 3.6 billion is for housing.\u201d The Vice-President also cited the example of Italy, noting that the country \u201chas put forward a very positive proposal, as 1.1 billion of the 3.6 billion earmarked for housing came from a proposal by the Italian government, which the European Commission has adopted.<\/strong>\u201d This strategy for tourism \u201cdemonstrates just how important it is to have a link between the various strategies,\u201d he concluded. <\/p>\n

According to estimates reported by the European Commission, the tourism sector accounts for 10 per cent of the EU\u2019s GDP, supports more than 20 million jobs and comprises 5 million businesses, 99 per cent of which are SMEs. Europe accounts for around 40 per cent of international tourist arrivals worldwide. The aim of increasing the sector\u2019s sustainability and resilience had been included in Tzitzikostas\u2019s letter of appointment<\/a>, signed by the President of the European Commission.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Raffaele Fitto, Executive Vice-President of the Berlaymont Building: \u201cWe are providing tools, benchmarks, and European guidelines that Member States, regions, and local authorities can use on a voluntary basis, adapting them to their specific needs and priorities\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7908,"featured_media":470140,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":{"format":"standard","override":[{"template":"1","parallax":"1","fullscreen":"1","layout":"right-sidebar","sidebar":"default-sidebar","second_sidebar":"default-sidebar","sticky_sidebar":"1","share_position":"top","share_float_style":"share-monocrhome","show_featured":"1","show_post_meta":"1","show_post_author":"1","show_post_author_image":"1","show_post_date":"1","post_date_format":"default","post_date_format_custom":"Y\/m\/d","show_post_category":"1","show_post_reading_time":"0","post_reading_time_wpm":"300","post_calculate_word_method":"str_word_count","show_zoom_button":"0","zoom_button_out_step":"2","zoom_button_in_step":"3","show_post_tag":"1","show_prev_next_post":"1","show_popup_post":"1","show_comment_section":"1","number_popup_post":"1","show_author_box":"0","show_post_related":"1","show_inline_post_related":"0"}],"image_override":[{"single_post_thumbnail_size":"crop-500","single_post_gallery_size":"crop-500"}],"trending_post_position":"meta","trending_post_label":"Trending","sponsored_post_label":"Sponsored by","disable_ad":"0","subtitle":""},"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_override_counter":{"view_counter_number":"0","share_counter_number":"0","like_counter_number":"0","dislike_counter_number":"0"},"footnotes":""},"categories":[25705],"tags":[25871,29332,26181,35217,32850,27433,31661,35960],"class_list":["post-470163","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","tag-apostolos-tzitzikostasat","tag-ditto-en","tag-palazzo-berlaymont","tag-piano-casa","tag-tourism-en","tag-turismo-sostenibile-en","tag-ursula-von-der-leyen"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/470163","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7908"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=470163"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/470163\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":470164,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/470163\/revisions\/470164"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/470140"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=470163"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=470163"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=470163"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}