Over 60 European organisations call for tourism to be firmly anchored in EU national Recovery and Resilience plans. New #Tourism4Recovery campaign launched to support the call and showcase impact of investments in sustainable tourism.
The European Tourism Manifesto alliance, which represents over 60 European travel & tourism stakeholders covering the whole value chain of travel operations across Europe, has called on European governments to include tourism as a strategic part of their national Recovery and Resilience plans. The ‘Call for Action: Accelerate Social and Economic Recovery by Investing in Sustainable Tourism Development’ paper recently published by the alliance emphasises that the new Recovery and Resilience Facility1 agreed by the EU institutions to help rebuild the bloc’s economy offers an unprecedented opportunity to reset travel in Europe and build a more sustainable, resilient and innovative tourism sector.
To assist EU governments in drafting their national recovery plans, the paper presents a non-exhaustive list of reforms and investment ideas to drive digital and green transitions of travel & tourism and wider EU economies. Examples of some of the investment proposals included in the paper relate to the greening of tourism destination infrastructure; the development of clean fuels for transportation and investment in multimodal transport solutions; investments in tourism marketing and promotion to kick-start recovery; a fast rollout of rapid broadband services to rural, coastal and mountainous areas and the acceleration of fibre and 5G networks for travellers; and support to digital skills training for tourism workers.
Paving the way towards tourism of tomorrow
Eduardo Santander, Chairman of the European Tourism Manifesto alliance and CEO of the European Travel Commission, said: “With appropriate support, travel and tourism can be one of the most effective engines to deliver sustainable development in 2021 and beyond. The sector supports employment across all areas and demographics, contributes to social inclusion and wellbeing and generates revenue needed to preserve community identity, culture, and heritage. We urge EU governments to follow our call and firmly anchor tourism & travel in their crisis response and recovery plans”.
To support the alliance’s call to action, a new #Tourism4Recovery campaign was launched today with the goal of raising awareness of the devastating impact of the COVID-19 crisis on European tourism and showcasing how investment in sustainable tourism can be a key driver for the EU’s recovery. The campaign features a dedicated website page with user-generated content as well as a series of social media videos presenting tourism as a force for sustainable development. The alliance urges its travel & tourism partners to join the conversation online and promote key investments required for sustainable tourism recovery in their countries and across Europe.
Travel & tourism facing a deep crisis
Investment in the sustainable recovery of travel & tourism will benefit multiple sub-sectors given the transversal nature of the sector and its extensive value-chain. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, travel & tourism accounted for more than 9.5% of EU GDP, providing jobs to 22.6 million people2 across Europe with a direct impact on transport, retail, the agri-food industry and the wider economy. Is it estimated that every 1 euro of value generated by tourism results in an additional 56 cents of added value in indirect effects on other European industries3.
According to the European Commission’s assessment4, travel & tourism is one of the ecosystems most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and requires 161 billion euros worth of investment to bounce back to pre-crisis levels5. Without that sectoral regeneration, however, the socio-economic risks are severe.
Europe saw a 70% decline in tourist arrivals6 in 2020, with 11.5 million travel and tourism jobs7 already impacted in the EU.
1 Commission presents next steps for 672.5 billion euros Recovery and Resilience Facility in 2021 Annual Sustainable Growth Strategy, 17th September 2020
2 WTTC, EU 2020 Annual Research: Key Highlights (2019 data)
3 Communication from the European Commission “Tourism and transport in 2020 and beyond”, 13th May 2020
4 Communication from the European Commission “Europe's moment: Repair and Prepare for the Next Generation”, 27th May 2020
5 Commission Staff Working Document “Identifying Europe's recovery needs”, accompanying the document Communication from the European Commission “Europe's moment: Repair and Prepare for the Next Generation”, 27th May 2020
6 UNWTO World Tourism Barometer, January 2021
7 WTTC, Recovery Scenarios 2020 & Economic Impact from COVID-19, November 2020 Projections
Tatiana is the news coordinator for TravelDailyNews Media Network (traveldailynews.gr, traveldailynews.com and traveldailynews.asia). Her role includes monitoring the hundreds of news sources of TravelDailyNews Media Network and skimming the most important according to our strategy.
She holds a Bachelor's degree in Communication & Mass Media from Panteion University of Political & Social Studies of Athens and she has been editor and editor-in-chief in various economic magazines and newspapers.
