Travel and Tourism Stakeholders Encourage Eco-Friendly Tourism for EU Recovery
More than 60 European organizations demand tourism be deeply rooted in the national Recovery and Resilience plans of the EU.
To make the EU economies more flexible, the European Tourism Manifesto has presented a list of investment ideas and amendments. Among others, the #Tourism4Recovery campaign has been launched to favour the request and display the effects of investments on sustainable tourism.
The European Tourism Manifesto alliance has requested the European governments to involve tourism as a strategic plan for their Recovery and Resilience plans.
A recently published paper by the alliance has been unfolded the new Recovery and Resilience Facility agreed by the EU institutions, which intends to reactivate travelling in Europe, support rebuilding the economy and create a more advanced and sustainable tourism industry.
To help EU governments outline national recovery plans, the European Travel Commission presented a complete list of reforms and ideas for investments. Some examples of investment suggestions included in their paper pertain to planning tourism based on:
- green infrastructure,
- establishing transport on clean fuels,
- investing in multimodal transportation,
- investing in marketing,
- promoting tourism,
- fast distribution of rapid broadband services to all areas,
- speeding up the fibre and 5G networks for travellers, and
- promote the training of digital skills for workers of tourism.
“The tourism sector supports employment across all areas and demographics, contributes to social inclusion and wellbeing and generates the revenue needed to preserve community identity, culture, and heritage,” Eduardo Santander, Chairman of the European tourism Manifesto alliance and CEO of ETC, stated.
The new #Tourism4Recovery campaign was launched to promote awareness of the impact that the COVID-19 pandemic had on European tourism and present how sustainable tourism investments can be a crucial factor for the recovery of the EU. Online discussions related to sustainable tourism recovery in countries all over Europe between travel and tourism partners are encouraged by the alliance.
According to the press release of ETC, travel and tourism recorded more than 9.5 per cent of the EU GDP, ensuring jobs for 22.6 million people all over Europe, before the COVID-19 pandemic directly affected the food industry, retail, transport and broader economy. It is anticipated that one euro gained by tourism adds 56 cents value indirectly on other sectors, AtoZSerwisPlus.com reports.
The European Commission assessed that one of the environments most affected by COVID-19 is travel and tourism, and it demands €161 billion worth of investments to go back to its pre-COVID state. In 2020 Europe had a 70 per cent decrease in tourist arrivals, affecting the EU with 11.5 million travel and tourism jobs.
Based on the European Travel Commission release, €672.5 billion will be used for the Recovery and Resilience in the 2021 Annual Sustainable Growth Strategy.
AtoZSerwisPlus.com has previously reported that the Member States of the EU and countries within the Schengen Area may lose billions in 2021 if the restrictions are not eased for travellers from the United States, Canada, and Mexico. North America alone was one of the main contributors in the European market, delivering €60 billion a year.
