Opinion of the European Committee of the Regions — Towards more sustainable tourism for EU cities and regions

(2021/C 37/02)

Rapporteur: Manuel Alejandro CARDENETE FLORES (ES/RE), Deputy Minister for Tourism, Regeneration, Justice and Local Administration of the Regional Government of Andalusia

POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS

THE EUROPEAN COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS

Introductory comments

1.

highlights the fact that tourism is a strategic sector, a tool for integration and a key driver of social and economic recovery: contributing more than 10 % to the EU’s gross domestic product and providing jobs for 26 million people, it accounts for 6 % of total EU exports;

2.

underlines the importance of transport and mobility as key factors for social, economic and territorial cohesion in the EU, emphasising the need for a smart and sustainable approach to mobility, especially in regions whose economic development is most jeopardised by the fact they rely exclusively on air and maritime transport;

3.

points out that a wide spectrum of travellers, from a social and cultural perspective and in terms of age and income, creates a broad range of opportunities for many businesses, from multinational corporations to micro-enterprises. The tourism ecosystem comprises sectors such as accommodation, transport, gastronomy, culture, sport and leisure, as well as tour operator services. It includes a total of around 2,4 million enterprises, of which more than 90 % are SMEs;

4.

supports the recommendations and guidelines of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), as well as the One Planet vision for the sustainable recovery of tourism and the promotion of the UN 2030 Agenda Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the fields of tourism and transport;

5.

subscribes to the UNWTO’s definition of sustainable tourism as one that ‘takes full account of its current and future economic, social and environmental impacts, addressing the needs of visitors, the industry, the environment and host communities’;

6.

underscores the fact that the crisis caused by SARS-CoV-2 has brought about dramatic change, with immeasurable cost to life and devastating economic consequences which have severely affected Europe, resulting in personal losses, serious financial difficulties and numerous companies going bankrupt, especially in the tourism and transport sectors;

7.

recognises that these difficulties are exacerbated in the case of the EU’s outermost regions, which rely heavily on the tourism sector, and whose prospects for economic recovery are seriously jeopardised by their almost exclusive dependence on air transport and the impossibility of using other modes of transport;

8.

underlines the need to promote sustainable tourism services that take into account Europe’s rich historical and cultural heritage as well as its unique natural heritage;

9.

notes the cross-cutting nature of tourism, which this crisis has exposed, as a decline in tourism activity not only affects sectors such as accommodation, restaurants or transport, but also many areas of the economy with high value;

10.

points out that Europe must maintain a proactive stance and show leadership in this and any subsequent crises that may arise, being quick to take the necessary measures to prevent the collapse of the tourism sector;

11.

recognises that the current health crisis caused by COVID-19 has brought to the fore the particular vulnerability of tourism in island regions, whose resources are scarce;

12.

reminds the Member States and the EU institutions of the importance of allocating sufficient financial resources to save the sector and of developing a long-term European tourism policy for a sustainable, quality tourism industry, based on respect for the environment and the fight against climate change;

13.

maintains that now it is time to take action and focus on how to improve the present tourism and transport models, ensuring that they are fully sustainable from the social, economic and environmental perspective and using the crisis to spark a debate that will lay the foundations for resilience and sustainability in times to come in the tourism and transport sectors;

On the impact of COVID-19 on the tourism and transport sector in Europe and the EU’s short and medium-term recovery and resilience response: the tourism and transport package

14.

notes that the UNWTO has estimated that losses caused by the pandemic in the global tourism industry in the first five months of 2020 were already more than three times higher than those recorded in the 2009 international financial crisis (1);

15.

calls for closer coordination between Member States, in imposing bans and lockdowns to help reactivate the sector, reducing confusion among tourists and encouraging people to travel; and welcomes the efforts made by the European Commission and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control to provide objective and accurate information about the developments of the pandemic;

16.

underlines how important it is for the resumption of tourism to adopt a common strategy on the mobility of people within the EU to foster greater confidence in travel, in particular by testing COVID-19 in the country of departure, i.e. before people start their journeys, increasing travel safety and avoiding the need for quarantine;

17.

welcomes the EU’s swift response in coming to the rescue of tourism and transport, in particular the European Commission’s communication on Tourism and transport in 2020 and beyond and its accompanying recommendations and guidelines — namely the tourism and transport package. These have helped Member States to re-establish safe and unrestricted freedom of movement and to re-open the internal borders, tackling the liquidity crisis and restoring consumer confidence;

18.

it is also pleased to see that the following have been approved: the Temporary Framework for State aid measures (2), enabling Member States to provide more support to businesses; the new European instrument for temporary support to mitigate unemployment risks in an emergency (3) (SURE), to boost household incomes and preserve productive capacity and human capital in businesses and the economy; REACT-EU (4), enabling managing authorities to change the allocation of the European Structural and Investment Funds in order to tackle the most urgent effects of the crisis; the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund, which benefits workers in the tourism sector who have been laid off as a result of the crisis; and projects such as Re-open EU (5)– an online platform to disseminate up-to-date information on travel restrictions in Europe, public health and security measures;

19.

appreciates the Commission’s efforts to promote the fluidity of increased volumes of State aid to save European businesses, and proposes that some of the rules (including the modified de minimis rule) remain in force for as long as necessary in regions that have been particularly badly hit by the crisis;

20.

urges all Member States to use all types of aid that are temporarily allowed under the framework to address urgent liquidity needs and cover immediate requirements of working capital and investment, and that make it possible to rescue businesses that have fallen into acute difficulty due to the outbreak of COVID-19 (6), thus giving them the opportunity to adapt and develop their activities;

21.

welcomes the measures agreed on by the EU Member States, representing, in the words of the president of the European Committee of the Regions, ‘an example of solidarity’; deems it essential for the EU budget and the Recovery Plan to be made rapidly available to cities and businesses in all Europe’s cities, regions and municipalities in order to tackle this unprecedented crisis;

22.

calls for efforts to ensure that the agreement achieves genuine partnership between all levels of governance, promoting shared responsibility and avoiding excessive centralisation;

23.

asks the Commission, in cooperation with the Member States, to adopt a set of EU-specific guidelines and checklists for local and regional authorities to serve as instructions for the initial days of disasters, even before national and EU actions kick in; notes that the guidelines contained in the tourism and transport package are already an excellent point of reference;

24.

considers the measures in the tourism and transport package an important first step in improving the response capacity of local tourist destinations in dealing with new waves in the pandemic and other potential disasters that could pose a challenge to recovery in this sector;

25.

considers that due to the pandemic there is urgency for new strategies that will support the Horeca sector, and the development of touristic activities on local level, such as rural tourism, local gastronomy, or local traditions. The trends have changed on a global scale and smaller touristic locations, isolated destinations, where families and smaller groups can travel safely have become more attractive. For tourism to survive in the next 2-3 years, we need to direct our tourists to our own destinations;

26.

stresses that the costs arising from COVID-19-related precautionary measures in public transport could be incorporated into public service contracts (PSCs), so as to avoid shifting high additional financial charges to transport authorities, which are often local and regional authorities;

27.

voices its support for gradually rolling out visa exemptions in the long term to boost visitor arrivals from third countries and encourage tourists to come back to Europe;

28.

hopes that in future the European authorities and border regions will be informed in advance of any decision on the part of national authorities to issue travel bans and temporarily close borders, something that will improve coordination and ensure timely access to information;

29.

staunchly supports the recovery plan for Europe to help remedy the economic and social damage caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, start the European recovery process and preserve and create jobs;

On the need for action to make tourism more sustainable

30.

notes that tourism has been one of the industries that has enjoyed the most rapid growth in recent years — growth that has laid bare the difficulties in achieving balanced development in terms of economic, environmental and social sustainability;

31.

sets store by the Commission’s communications on Europe, the world’s No 1 tourist destination: a new political framework for tourism in Europe (2010) and A European Strategy for more Growth and Jobs in Coastal and Maritime Tourism (2014);

32.

points out that tourism is now faced with new, high-impact challenges that will have to be addressed, such as climate change, increasing congestion, excessive pressure on infrastructure and water and energy consumption, environmental degradation, that need to be addressed urgently and primarily and the loss of identity and respect for the authenticity of local communities;

33.

affirms that tourism can be a model activity in the sustainable environmental transition announced in the Green Deal, and believes that Europe can be transformed into the first climate-neutral continent by 2050 through economic adaptation to the digital age and by promoting equality and social inclusion; and strongly encourages the EU institutions and MS (Member States) to take the means necessary to achieve those goals;

34.

acknowledges that it will only be possible to achieve these goals if they are based on solid foundations clearly defining the scope, obligations and implications of introducing genuinely sustainable development in this sector, with a strong commitment to guaranteeing implementation;

On transport modes for travel

35.

observes that tourism is a complex value chain comprised of numerous stakeholders with a direct link to passenger transport activities;

36.

points to the need to progress in the tourism industry towards making the circular economy in tourism a reality;

37.

notes that forecasts by the UNWTO and the International Transport Forum point to an increase of around 25 % in carbon emissions of transport connected with tourism by 2030;

38.

therefore acknowledges the need to explore and put in place or implement ways of enhancing the connectivity of Europe’s cities and regions, of supporting the less polluting options and of improving intermodality in line with the ultimate objective of the Green Deal; thus welcomes the Strategy for sustainable and smart mobility launched by the Commission in 2020;

39.

strongly encourages the EU Member States to join forces to urgently address the lack of sustainable transport alternatives and invest in developing and revitalising long-distance train routes, including night trains, making low-carbon travel a more attractive option;

40.

supports linking public aid to airlines to commitments by those airlines to meet pollutant emission reduction targets;

41.

argues that the same commitment should be encouraged in the different modes of transport, including both road and maritime transport, paying special attention to cruise ships because of their high environmental impact;

42.

regrets that support for bus and rail transport (key modes of local and regional transport) is lower than that for aviation, something that places greater pressure on funding for more sustainable forms of transport; calls for a strong commitment to scale up sustainable mobility opportunities throughout Europe by rail transport, reiterating that the Commission listed improving the contribution of the rail sector to sustainable tourism in the EU as one of the targets for 2021;

43.

draws attention to the importance of carrying out an impact assessment, in the implementation of the future measures on CO2 emissions in air and maritime transport envisaged in the European Green Deal and in the new Sustainable Mobility Strategy, on the outermost regions of the EU, whose economic and social cohesion depends heavily on air and maritime transport for both the mobility of their citizens and the development of their economic activity

44.

stresses the need for financial support to enable public transport operators, who have suffered a dramatic drop in revenue, to develop a more sustainable transport fleet with zero and low emission vehicles;

45.

is interested in working on initiatives linking train travel with cultural discovery and tourism once the crisis is over, developing the #DiscoverEU scheme and cooperating closely with representatives of EU regions to promote rail tourism opportunities during and beyond the European Year of Rail (EYR2021);

46.

points to the importance of recognising EuroVelo (7) as another TEN-T (Trans-European Transport Network) in addition to the existing networks of roads, railways and inland waterways; this will make cycling infrastructure safer, more direct, well-integrated and connected, benefiting all categories of cyclist and providing a significant added boost to cycling tourism;

On the impact on the natural environment

47.

is concerned that global warming may reduce the attractiveness or even jeopardise the livelihoods of some tourist destinations and reaffirms its determination to combat climate change in a timely manner and according to the latest state of science using the range of initiatives and policy measures set out in the opinions of the European Committee of the Regions;

48.

points out that tackling climate change will be crucial for destinations including many coastal and island regions at risk of rising sea levels, ski resorts affected by lack of snow and regions struck by forest fires, floods or blizzards (8);

49.

considers that tourism has the potential to make a meaningful contribution to Europe’s circular economy ambitions and insists that regions and cities must be part of the discussion on how to move the agenda forward on the ground;

50.

recommends that the tourism and transport industry boost the supply of climate neutral products by using clean energy, reducing the use of harmful chemicals and plastics, and implementing rainwater and domestic waste water recycling processes (9) that significantly reduce demand for drinking water from the supply network, and recycling of waste, and that these processes be used more systematically;

51.

draws attention to the need for greater support for cycling tourism, which benefits local economies by making it possible to visit areas that are normally off the beaten tourist track and using local firms and services; moreover, the infrastructure required for cycling also benefits local residents by increasing connectivity, helping to guarantee long-term sustainability in local communities;

52.

is in favour of continuing the work of the DG Mare-European Boating Industry working group on end-of-life of vessels with a view to developing a joint EU research and innovation roadmap to increase recycling of materials for building boats;

53.

stresses the importance of promoting sustainable coastal maritime tourism that fosters activities to interpret and preserve the marine environment. In addition, sees great potential in navigation, wind and wave sports, diving and water sports in general for science, environmental awareness, ocean mapping and research on environmental issues;

54.

highlights the importance of tourism for rural development, which should no longer be interpreted exclusively in terms of agricultural development, but as a driver for the progress of less developed rural areas, with farmland that is marginal and of low productivity but of great value to the environment and landscape and for protecting biodiversity; for this reason,, the European institutions should make appropriate efforts to include tourism and the opportunities it offers in the Biodiversity Strategy, the Farm to Fork Strategy, the new Common Agricultural Policy and the Natura 2000 network and in the long-term vision for rural areas;

55.

considers it important to promote more sustainable tourism with greater added value for the regions by including zero-mile products in tourism services, and believes it is necessary to promote natural and protected areas and the potential of the sky as a tourist resource (astrotourism);

56.

points to the importance of using 5G, IoT, AI and Big Data digital technologies to provide innovative, sustainable, scalable smart tourism services, with high added value, capable of promoting new, more efficient, accessible and inclusive tourism models, extended to all regions, with a special focus on rural areas, and to the importance of having telecommunications technologies that provide sufficient connectivity in these areas;

On the social and economic impact and the need to avoid tourism being perceived as a problem

57.

reiterates that tourism, and in particular overtourism (exceeding the physical, ecological, social, economic, psychological and/or political capacity of destination thresholds (10)), like all human activities, has an impact on the social environment where it is carried out;

58.

draws attention to the need to avoid the negative impact of overtourism, resulting in: more congestion; pressure on infrastructure; increased energy and water demand; environmental degradation; damage to historical sites and monuments; loss of identity and authenticity; and increased cost of living for local residents, not to mention rising inequality among them; finds that measures and initiatives should urgently be considered by the EU institutions and Member States to avoid the negative impact of overtourism;

59.

underlines that promoting and developing tourism in rural areas can lead to economic development and create wealth, helping to attract people to or halt population decline in areas affected by depopulation;

60.

recommends that policies be implemented to promote and empower women. Women play a key role in preserving tourist businesses, as they are the main players in combating depopulation. Making sure they are employable is a way of anchoring people in an area. This means assessing their needs and giving them targeted training with tools to acquire skills and become more competitive;

61.

points out that some models of tourism based on the intensive use of low-cost means of transport and mass passenger travel encourage overtourism; at the same time, social media and peer-to-peer exchange platforms may also go too far in advertising destinations; for this reason calls for debates on the growth and quality of tourism;

62.

defines the Barcelona Declaration of NECSTouR ‘Better Places to Live, Better Places to Visit’ as a benchmark demonstrating that the sectors of tourism and cultural heritage, both tangible and intangible, can work closely together for the benefit of the people of Europe and cultural heritage;

63.

points out that tourism should be seen as part of the solution and not as the problem; therefore highlights the need to propose new initiatives that are different from — and provide a more decisive boost to — those that are already under way; to this end, notes the need to regulate the new forms of tourism and the collaborative economy platforms so that they comply with fair competition criteria, to strengthen monitoring and inspection systems and to guarantee the quality and legality of services provided within a common framework of free commercial competition; at the same time, the heritage, culture, identity and quality of life of the resident population must be preserved;

64.

notes, in this regard, the benefits of disseminating best practice, strategies and methodologies for sustainable tourism developed in the various European programmes such as PANORAMED, MED horizontal projects, MITOMED+ and WINTERMED, in order to promote their capitalisation and replicability;

65.

consequently, recommends continuing the European Capital of Smart Tourism Award;

On digitalisation and data, and their advantages in setting up a monitoring and traceability system for actions

66.

draws attention to the significant changes in distribution channels and in the way tourism is consumed, enabling many companies to reach their customers directly, an opportunity that has not been sufficiently exploited by small firms;

67.

highlights the fact that information is a raw material that is fundamental for tourism, something that is being used by more disruptive initiatives in this sector;

68.

points to the importance of the UNWTO initiative Towards a Statistical Framework for Measuring the Sustainability of Tourism (11), including the economic, social and environmental perspectives;

69.

underlines that regarding data, the level of detail, quality, interpretation and correct usage will have a direct impact on the effectiveness of the political action to address the COVID-19 crisis and the pursuit of a climate-neutral Europe;

70.

is concerned about the lack of harmonisation and the fragmentation of data in terms of the economic impact of tourism, a state of affairs that undermines systemic decision-making in support of the tourism and transport sector;

71.

stresses that official data cannot produce information fast enough to keep up with the current situation, meaning that regions and cities have had to resort to other measuring mechanisms that are not yet included in official data;

72.

welcomes the fact that in March 2020 the Commission reached an agreement with collaborative economy platforms (12) to publish key data on tourism accommodation, and encourages it to jointly explore indicators to define recovery strategies that will benefit the tourism sector;

73.

recalls that collaborative economy platforms are rising local housing costs by shifting the destination of the dwellings from serving local residents to serving travellers. Despite the decision of the European Court of Justice, collaborative economy platforms are not a simple information provider. Therefore, calls the European Commission to legislate to give the possibility to regional and local authorities to regulate the activities of such platforms in their territories to make sure that it complies with the same administrative rules concerning summer renting comparing to more traditional stakeholders;

74.

points to the need to establish standardised tools that can guide cities, regions and the business sector in their search for more sustainable policies that are embedded in the new European statistical programme and that strengthen the economic, social and environmental monitoring of tourism; highlights the need to facilitate accessibility to data, to enhance the updating and interconnection of such data and to provide a harmonised mapping system;

75.

recommends that a legal framework be defined for producing and publishing Tourism Satellite Accounts in each of the EU Member States;

76.

calls for better data collection at NUTS level 3 on the number of tourists and people going on trips, on other new forms of accommodation and on the type of transport, together with a regional breakdown and the main local destinations according to accommodation statistics;

77.

recommends introducing a measuring system for monitoring water consumption and emissions produced by the tourism sector, including the tourism industry and its characteristic products, in statistical accounts for water, air and energy;

78.

encourages Eurostat to further explore big data as a source for tourism statistics, taking into account the challenges related to collection, independence, trustworthiness, access, quality and availability over time;

79.

calls for the problem of overtourism to be analysed by including qualitative data on the attitudes of residents to tourism in studies on incomes and living conditions, in flash estimates of the impact of tourism and in the report entitled Quality of life in European cities drawn up by the Commission;

80.

recommends that further action be taken to make use of and optimise the extensive work carried out in recent years by the Commission, such as the ETIS system of indicators, the S3 Platform (13) for digitalisation and safety for tourism and the Tourism of Tomorrow Lab;

81.

urges the Commission and the European Parliament to include in the next European statistical programme systems and monitoring tools that are better tailored to meeting the specific needs of regions and cities, allowing for proper traceability of the tourism policies implemented;

On the need for renewed recognition of tourism as a key EU policy commensurate with its contribution and potential for growth and for tourism to be more committed to sustainable development

82.

hopes that the current crisis will act as a wake-up call, encouraging the European Commission to pursue a more ambitious tourism policy for Europe at the environmental, economic, and social levels;

83.

welcomes the Commission’s initiative to organise a European tourism convention in order to draw up a roadmap for 2050 towards a sustainable, innovative and resilient European tourism ecosystem (European Agenda for Tourism 2050) where regions are actively involved;

84.

states its willingness to organise a stakeholder conference involving public and private bodies in order to share experience related to the recovery routes chosen by the different destinations and the shape of EU tourism in the future;

85.

expects the European Parliament’s Committee on Transport and Tourism to join forces with the CoR in seeking a robust tourism policy in the EU;

86.

proposes a joint session of the European Parliament’s Committee on Transport and Tourism and the CoR’s NAT commission to discuss the future of EU tourism policy in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis, tying in with discussions on the Multiannual Financial Framework for 2021-2027;

87.

looks forward to maintaining close cooperation with the European Parliament’s Tourism Task Force and asks to be fully associated with it so as to bring the local and regional voice into its discussions;

88.

reiterates how important it is for Member States and their regional authorities to include tourism priorities in their post-2020 operational programmes in order to promote access to European funding to finance tourism projects;

89.

points out that it is difficult for SMEs and destinations to access the current funding mechanism and proposes introducing practical tools (one-stop shop or online tool), linked to the managing authorities of the European funds, to facilitate applications and processing;

90.

recommends that the European Committee of the Regions strengthen its cooperation with the UNWTO through a memorandum of understanding and the development of joint action plans;

91.

calls on the Council to involve the European Committee of the Regions and its local and regional authorities in Council working groups and meetings on tourism;

92.

proposes drawing up a new European Sustainable Tourism Framework, aligned with the Green Deal and the UN 2030 Agenda, taking account of relevant regional strategies and incorporating the various policies that the EU is developing — and may develop — in this area, such as: supporting the digitalisation of the sector, promoting smart tourist destinations, decarbonising activity, promoting the circular economy, boosting inclusive and accessible tourism, curbing rural depopulation, and improving participatory governance and public-private partnerships;

93.

calls on the European Commission to look into the possibility of setting up a dedicated directorate-general for sustainable tourism, and likewise asks the European Parliament to give thought to establishing a special parliamentary committee focused on sustainable tourism.

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(1)  https://www.e-unwto.org/doi/epdf/10.18111/wtobarometereng.2020.18.1.4

(2)  https://ec.europa.eu/competition/state_aid/what_is_new/sa_covid19_temporary-framework.pdf

(3)  https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A52020PC0139

(4)  https://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/sources/docgener/factsheet/2020_mff_reacteu_en.pdf

(5)  https://reopen.europa.eu/en

(6)  https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?qid=1587137448000&uri=CELEX:52020DC0112

(7)  European network of 17 long-distance cycle routes crossing and connecting the entire continent.

(8)  https://www.europarl.europa.eu/thinktank/en/document.html?reference=EPRS_BRI(2017)603932

(9)  https://ec.europa.eu/environment/emas/takeagreenstep/pdf/BEMP-5.7-FINAL.pdf

(10)  A recent EP study found 105 EU destinations at risk of overtourism; see: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/STUD/2018/629184/IPOL_STU(2018)629184_EN.pdf

(11)  https://www.unwto.org/Measuring-Sustainability-Tourism

(12)  https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/IP_20_194

(13)  https://s3platform.jrc.ec.europa.eu/tourism