Tourism is the third biggest industry in the EU and one of the driving forces of the European economy. It creates jobs, regional development and growth. Sustainable tourism – such as long-distance cycling- can deliver a significant return on investment while helping achieve the climate change goals. Despite all those benefits, however, tourism is still one of the sectors less supported by the European institutions in terms of budget and investments. ECF together with the main European tourism stakeholders joined forces behind a first-ever Tourism Manifesto for Jobs and Growth and spoke before the Transport and Tourism (TRAN) Committee of the European Parliament.

“Europe has an incredibly well-developed transportation network, unparalleled anywhere else in the world”, said Adam Bodor, ECF Director of Advocacy and EuroVelo, vice-chair of the Tourism Manifesto group in his speech before the TRAN Committee and representatives of the European Commission. However, a lot of potential remains unused, despite we invest billions of Euros into projects for example connected to high-speed railway networks.

One of the main issues according to Bodor is connectivity and integrated ticketing: “Frustratingly, the long distance public transport services available in Europe are less accessible than the car-oriented USA.  For example, to travel between Chicago and New York by Amtrak trains takes 19 hours with a direct night train, bookable in advance and you can even bring your bike.  From Brussels to Budapest there is no direct train and while it can be done in 16 hours it is impossible to book it as one trip. If you want to bring your bicycle or combine your train journey with other transport modes you will face with unpredictable conditions and unacceptable risk”, he explained.

Another main obstacle is the lack of funding. The budget of the European Commission (at DG GROWTH) available for tourism is no more than a few million euro and even that is at risk. “The European Commission needs to encourage investments in tourism” highlighted Adam Bodor.

Tourism Task Force a necessary tool to unlock the wide potential in the European market

Michael Cramer, Chairman of the TRAN Committee highlighted: ”it’s a tourism committee as well. Tourism should be more in the focus in the future with concrete actions.” ”Tourism is one of the most important sectors se have and it needs to be supported more by the EU institutions in the future,” said Vice Chairman István Ujhelyi on behalf of the TRAN Committee. He pointed that tourism is not solely a service providing sector, it is a proper business branch that can create jobs for thousands of people.

The development of skills and qualifications for more and better careers in the tourism sector is one of the priorities described in the Manifesto. Today there are 25 million employees in tourism and the main work force is youth under 24 years old, a demographic group heavily challenge by the financial crisis.

One more key point in the Manifesto is the need for an EU strategy on tourism with concrete targets and budget that will attract investments with long-term effect. As Eduardo Santander from European Travel Commission and Chairman of the Manifesto mentioned: “We need a plan for tourism that is sustainable throughout the year”.

Sorting out the complexities of internal market competitiveness comes next: “We need to review the regulatory framework to limit administrative burdens. The goal is to ensure fair competition and level playing field”, said Christian de Barrin from Hospitality Europe.

The tourism stakeholders will upscale their efforts to get their voice heard at the EU level. We will keep you posted on all new developments. 

The members of the Manifesto Steering Committee are: Eduardo Santander European Travel Commission (ETC),  Tim Fairhurst - European Tours Operators Association (ETOA), Christian de Barrin – Hospitality Europe (HOTREC), Adam Bodor – European Cyclistd' Federation (ECF), Vice Chairman Manifesto, Cristina Nuñez - Network of European Regions for a Sustainable and Competitive Tourism (NECSTOUR), Kerstin Howald - European Federation of Food, Agriculture and Tourism Trade Unions (EFFAT)

You can find the full manifesto here.