The European Commissioner for Sustainable Transport and Tourism Apostolos Tzitzikostas, presented the new strategy for European tourism to the European Parliament on Wednesday.
“It is time to chart a new future for tourism through a modern and sustainable European strategy, which we are currently working on intensively,” he said.

In his speech, he mentioned the challenges facing tourism, emphasizing that the goal is for Europe to maintain its leading position in tourism as the most popular destination worldwide.

The major challenges mentioned by Tzitzikostas are climate change, balanced tourism, digital innovation, and human capital. “For these key objectives, we will work on three pillars,” explained Tzitzikostas and added: “Destination Management Organizations, including regions and municipalities, small and medium-sized enterprises, and the international community, which we will approach with strong branding.”

“Europe is the second smallest continent, but the most visited in the world. We are number one in the world in terms of tourism. More than three million businesses operate. 20 million people are employed across Europe. To move forward, to become even more competitive, we need unified branding and a unified marketing strategy. And united, we will ensure that ‘Destination Europe’ represents sustainability, uniqueness, and excellence,” emphasized Tzitzikostas.

He also noted that his goal is for the economic success of tourism to translate into real benefits for local communities and small and medium-sized enterprises. He also emphasized that one of the main initiatives he is undertaking is the creation of new legislation that will ensure fair competition and transparency for tourism stakeholders.

SOURCE; ANA-MPA