The European Commission has celebrated the European Tourism Day for the first time in five years in Brussels on May 5.
Through a statement issued a day before, the EU Commission has revealed that this special day would bring together more than 450 players from the tourism sector, SchengenVisaInfo.com reports.
The Commissioner for the Internal Market, Thierry Breton, has also participated in this event together with the MEP Karima Delli, chairperson of the Transport and Tourism Committee of the European Parliament.
“Mountains, seaside, cities and a wealth of history — Europe truly embodies tourism diversity,” the Commissioner has tweeted in his official Twitter account following the meeting, attaching pictures with the Spanish Secretary of State for Tourism Rosana Morillo, and the Chairman of the Tourism agency of Belgium’s Flemish region Peter DeWilde.
Mountains, seaside, cities and a wealth of history — Europe truly embodies #tourism diversity! 🇪🇺
Engaging discussions w/ 🇦🇹 & 🇪🇸 governments and tourism regions, exploring sustainable & inclusive strategies to offer the best summer season to European & international visitors. pic.twitter.com/9mCWf7Sof6
— Thierry Breton (@ThierryBreton) May 5, 2023
Throughout the activity, several issues have been discussed, including the ecological and digital transition and strengthening the skills of workers in the tourism sector. At the same time, there has been an exhibition on meta tourism and the creation of virtual worlds to promote tourist destinations.
According to the Commission, such an event intends to create an overview of the implementation of the transition path for tourism and the European Tourism Agenda 2030.
Included in this agenda were five priority areas – green transition, digital transition, resilience and inclusion, skills and support, and policy framework and enabling governance.
Another key objective of the Agenda was to meet the skills requirements in the tourism ecosystem by implementing the Skills Pact, a joint commitment model for skills development.
In this regard, Breton emphasised that the EU Tourism Agenda 2030 is marked as a major historical moment for the tourism ecosystem, which will serve as a common compass for Member States, stakeholders and the Commission in support of the creation of a greener, digital and resilient tourism ecosystem.
Moreover, at the event, the Commission also discussed other initiatives to boost the tourism ecosystem, including the creation of a Tourism Stakeholder Platform and the creation of a Common European Tourism Data Space to support the digital transformation of the sector.
As the authority explains, this event will announce the launch of the 2024 edition of the “EU Smart Tourism Capital”, which rewards European cities for their innovative, digital and sustainable tourism practices. The Commission will also launch the so-called “Pioneer EU Green Smart Tourism”, which promotes sustainable tourism practices in smaller tourist destinations.
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