The new European Agenda for Tourism 2030 will drive the double green and digital transition

02-12-22

The European Union's Competitiveness Council has given the green light to the adoption of the new European Agenda for Tourism 2030, which includes a multi-annual EU roadmap to help drive the double green and digital transition, as well as the resilience of the sector.

The European Union is a destination visited by international citizens and its own residents, and the tourism sector makes a significant contribution to economic development across Europe. However, the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic are still lingering, compounded by the consequences of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, rising energy prices, inflation and fuel costs.

In this context, the new European Agenda for Tourism 2030 puts the focus on protecting the tourism sector and, at the same time, developing a forward-looking vision to harness the willingness of many European citizens to change their travel habits to become more sustainable.

Governance, green and digital transition, resilience and human capital

The European Council conclusions 'Tourism in Europe for the next decade: sustainable, resilient, digital, global and social', adopted by the EU Competitiveness Council in 2021, called on Member States and the European Commission, in cooperation with stakeholders, to design the European Tourism Agenda 2030.

The new document sets out the key sustainability and digitalisation milestones that Europe is committed to take on in order to better equip the sector for a more resilient tourism ecosystem by 2030. In addition, it has an annex with a multi-annual EU roadmap with concrete voluntary actions for Member States, relevant public authorities, the Commission and other stakeholders, providing strategic guidance for advancing the agenda in five priority areas.

On the one hand, a proper governance framework to ensure collaborative management of destinations and to have a European tourism scorecard providing indicators and statistics at national, regional and local level.

With regard to the green transition, it encompasses improvements in the circularity of tourism, the reduction of the carbon footprint and the efficient use of resources. In terms of digital transformation, it focuses on boosting the digitisation of tourism SMEs and creating frameworks for sharing tourism data.

In the area of resilience and inclusion, the aim is to increase the accessibility of tourism services and increase the capacity of destinations and businesses to withstand future shocks. Finally, the area of human capital aims to develop new skills of the workforce to ensure that they match the future needs of the sector.