Call for action: Accelerate social and economic recovery by investing in sustainable tourism development

Call for action: accelerate social and economic recovery by investing in sustainable tourism development

According to the European Commission's Communication 'Europe's moment: Repair and Prepare for the Next Generation', travel and tourism is one of the most affected ecosystems by the COVID-19 pandemic and requires €161 billion worth of investment to bounce back to pre-crisis levels. The new Recovery and Resilience Facility, proposed by the Commission to help the EU rebuild after the pandemic, offers an unprecedented opportunity to support tourism-related reforms to ensure that the sector helps to drive digital and green transitions, and thereby strengthens both economic and social resilience.

The aim of the Recovery and Resilience Facility is to provide large-scale financial support for reforms and investments undertaken by Member States, and to mitigate the economic and social impact of the coronavirus pandemic, making the EU's economies more sustainable and resilient. In order to benefit from this unprecedented funding opportunity, Member States must submit to the Commission by April 2021 their draft recovery and resilience plans outlining national investment and reform agendas in line with the twin strategic objectives: digitalisation and sustainability.

The European Tourism Manifesto alliance recognises and appreciates that a number of Member States have made specific mention of tourism-related investments in their draft recovery plans for the Recovery and Resilience Facility. The alliance calls on all Member States to follow the same approach: travel and tourism services and related infrastructure are critical for each country’s long-term economic prospects. A large number of SMEs are directly and indirectly dependent on the visitor economy and, with sufficient support, can return employment to the economy faster than any other sector.

To support the work of Member States in preparing their plans, the alliance has prepared this detailed paper presenting a non-exhaustive list of reforms and investment ideas related to travel and tourism that would contribute to making EU countries’ economies more resilient, so we will be better prepared to respond to future opportunities and challenges.

Click for the full Manifesto paper.