Content : Tourism
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EU tourism policy
The European Community Treaty does not attribute a specific competence to the EU for adopting measures in the area of tourism. That is not to say that EU measures in various fields – transport, environment, taxation, social policy, etc – do not impact the tourism industry including, of course, hotels, restaurants, and bars.
The responsibility for tourism policy in the European Commission lies with the Tourism Unit of DG Enterprise. The European Parliament has a Committee for Tourism and Transport. There is also a European Parliament inter-group for tourism, which brings together Members of the European Parliament who share an interest in tourism issues, regardless of the committee they sit on.
In March 2006, the European Commission issued a Communication for a renewed EU tourism policy (COM (2006) 134). The document sets out challenges facing European tourism – higher demand, stiffer international competition, and sustainability – and what the EU can do to meet them. The Commission emphasizes the need for better regulation, including improved impact assessments of legislative proposals, and better coordination of EU policies that impact on tourism. The financial instruments that support tourism projects – for instance, the European Regional Development Fund – should be better used. The Commission also outlines efforts it is undertaking to improve the visibility of European tourism, including the launching of a European Tourism Destinations web portal and the organization of an annual Tourism Forum.
HOTREC involvement in tourism
HOTREC is a founding member of NET, which regroups travel agents and tour operators (ECTAA and ETOA), camp sites (EFCO&HPA), and coach and taxi operators (IRU). NET allows for the sharing of information and the development of common positions on tourism related policy issues.
In 2006, HOTREC became an observer member of the World Tourism Organisation, which is an intergovernmental body set up in the framework of the United Nations.
HOTREC takes part actively in the European Tourism Forum which is held each year in a different European destination (Cyprus 2006, Malta 2005, Budapest 2004, Venice 2003…).
HOTREC position
HOTREC basically agrees with the outline of EU tourism policy that the Commission presented in the Communication from March 2006. In order to maintain the competitiveness of European tourism it is crucial to make sure that EU regulation does not become an unnecessary burden on businesses. Extended impacts assessments and simplification of existing legislation are therefore welcome. The objective of improved policy coordination is also positive.
But all of this needs to be put into practice. Good intentions are not sufficient on their own. HOTREC has for many years called for tourism to be taken more seriously by the EU institutions. Necessary measures include making sure that all proposed EU measures which have an impact on tourism are identified and reviewed in a systematic manner. Responsibility for this work should be clearly entrusted to the Tourism Unit of the European Commission. Moreover, the tourism industry must be consulted on the basis of a cost-benefit analysis each time a new measure is proposed.
Financing instruments for tourism at EU level could become much more useful to the industry if the application and reporting procedures were simplified.
It is important to raise the visibility of the tourism industry and its contributions to growth and employment. In this respect, it would be desirable for ministers in charge of tourism to meet regularly alongside the annual Tourism Forum. This would create a focus of attention for media and would, in addition, lead to an improved coordination of national and EU tourism policies.