Tourism: EU Commission wants to better distribute tourist flows

Brussels. Many tourists are drawn to the same places - the European Commission wants to help compensate for this. “Half of tourist overnight stays in Europe are concentrated in just 13 percent of the regions,” said EU Tourism Commissioner Apostolos Tzitzikostas in Brussels. Popular travel destinations are therefore faced with the challenge of finding the right balance - especially during the summer high season.

With a new tourism strategy, the EU Commission wants to create “real added value” and at the same time protect the quality of life of the local population. "We need to respond to the concerns of all those people who are increasingly skeptical about tourism in their home regions. We need to support these local communities and businesses, rather than simply aiming for ever-increasing visitor numbers," Tzitzikostas told journalists.

The Greek politician announced that recommendations for balanced tourism would be presented within the next six months. According to the authority, visitor flows should be distributed more evenly across seasons and travel destinations.

In the EU, the individual states are primarily responsible for regulations on the subject of tourism. However, Brussels wants to help overcome common challenges with an overarching strategy that is not binding. For example, in the coming years, a tourism academy is to be created to train specialist staff, the infrastructure in Europe is to be improved, data is to be shared better, Europe is to be strengthened as a global travel destination and cooperation is to be improved even more, especially in crises such as the price crisis resulting from the Iran war.

Particular attention should also be paid to cruise tourism. "Cruises bring visitors and economic activity to port cities and coastal regions. However, when large numbers of passengers arrive at the same time, this can place significant strain on local infrastructure, the environment and the population." Various actors should exchange ideas about this.

According to Tzitzikostas, more than 20 million people are employed and 5 million companies are active in the European tourism sector. 99 percent of them are small and medium-sized companies. The EU attracts 40 percent of the world's tourists. At the same time, an estimated 1 million workers were missing. In addition, climate change, international competition from Asia, for example, and the wars in Iran and Ukraine are affecting the industry's sense of security and flight prices.