Coreper approves draft conclusions on future of tourism in Europe to 2030

On Wednesday 12 May, Member States’ ambassadors to the European Union (Coreper I) approved draft conclusions of the Portuguese Presidency of the EU Council for tourism in Europe. The Competitiveness Council will adopt this text on 27 May.

The main outcome of the conclusions is the following:

• EU and its Member States are to move towards a collective and well-coordinated response to the current pandemic and possible future crises.
• Member States are to develop sustainable, responsible and resilient tourism policies and strategies and share ideas on how the tourism ecosystem can contribute to achieving the EU Green Deal objectives.
• Promoting new technologies, digitalisation, ICT and data-sharing to enhance the performance of tourism businesses, the value of tourism destinations.
• Protecting SMEs and micro-enterprises as drivers for social and economic convergence contributing to balanced regional development and job creation.
• Promoting quality education and skills development.
• The EU is to ensure the existence and use of funding opportunities under the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) and the Next Generation EU to support the short-, medium- and long-term recovery of the tourism ecosystem, make it more resilient and support the green and digital transition.
• The Commission, Member States and relevant stakeholders are invited to design a European Agenda for tourism 2030/2050.

HOTREC welcomes the Council conclusions and has confidence the tourism of the future will continue to be robust, sustainable and an example of job creation.