Several Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) have expressed support for the European Commission's recommendation to the Council of Ministers to endorse…
Several Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) have expressed support for the European Commission's recommendation to the Council of Ministers to endorse a policy which could see all Member States in the European Union adopt new measurement techniques to better evaluate the contribution tourism makes to the economy.
Recent events in the travel and tourism industry and a corresponding lack of effective measurement techniques has prompted the recommendation from the European Commission to set up a better evaluation system which Member States can use to base policy decisions and respond to the impact of events such as September 11, and the foot and mouth crisis which cost the UK tourism industry an estimated GBP3bn.
In a meeting of the Parliament's transport and tourism committee on Tuesday the MEPs gave their wide support for the proposal which is due for final endorsement by the Council of Ministers.
The World Travel & Tourism Council (
"The proposal is facing its last hurdle," says President of the World Travel & Tourism Council, Jean-Claude Baumgarten. "The Council of Ministers now have the opportunity to make a decision once and for all, that will say to the rest of the world, Europe is serious about tourism."
The European Commission recommends Member States adopt a specifically designed statistical method for the travel and tourism industry called Tourism Satellite Accounts (TSA), replacing the outdated and inaccurate methods currently in use. TSA methodology, approved by the United Nations, allows governments to forecast the economic contribution to a national or regional economy in not only traditional areas like Gross Domestic Product and employment, but also capital investment, visitor exports and government expenditure.
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