EC Library Guide on sustainable tourism: Selected publications
Selected EU publications
- Fact sheets on the European Union – Tourism
European Parliament, 2024.
Since December 2009, the Union has competence to carry out actions to support, coordinate or supplement the actions of the Member States in tourism policy. Although the 2021-2027 multiannual financial framework does not provide for a separate budget line for tourism policy, during the 2022-2023 period the budget for tourism activities was earmarked under the single market programme.
- Good practices for sustainable cruise tourism – Final report
European Commission, Directorate-General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, Publications Office of the European Union, 2023.
This study gathered and analysed available evidence on cruise tourism to support cruise stakeholders in moving forward on sustainability. It took place against a policy background of the European Green Deal, the European Commission new approach to sustainable blue economy and the development of a Transition Pathway for tourism. It looked at the economic, social and environmental ‘as-is’, examined the most promising responses to the challenges, measured economic impact, and documented regulatory and non-regulatory environmental and social frameworks.
There are no one-size-fits-all solutions. There is uncertainty about cost and regulation. Local specificities are important as 13 destination case studies illustrated. However, adopting clear environmental goals, circular economy principles, energy efficiency and fuel flexibility, and collaboration across the ecosystem are no-regrets measures that can be taken now. As a selection of good practices demonstrates, there are practices across a range of cruise players that the industry can look to for learnings, ranging from Onshore Power Supply (OPS), LNG bunkering, sustainable cruise terminals, food waste reduction and waste treatment to a holistic approach to destination management.
- Good practices for sustainable cruise tourism. Appendix 1, Fiches of good practices in sustainable cruise tourism
European Commission, Directorate-General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, Publications Office of the European Union, 2023.
- Good practices for sustainable cruise tourism. Appendix 2, Destination fiches
European Commission, Directorate-General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, Publications Office of the European Union, 2023.
- Monitoring the twin transition of industrial ecosystems – Tourism – Analytical report
European Commission, European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency, Izsak, K., Markianidou, P., Publications Office of the European Union, 2024.
Measuring performance and monitoring change within an industrial ecosystem are vital components that enable policymakers and industry stakeholders to track progress over time and obtain valuable feedback on whether the system is moving in the desired direction. This report is a contribution to the ‘European Monitor of Industrial Ecosystems’ (EMI) project, initiated by the European Commission's Directorate General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship, and SMEs, in partnership with the European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency (EISMEA). Its primary objective is to present the current state and the advancements achieved over time in terms of the green and digital transition of the Tourism industrial ecosystem.
Tourism and travel have been going through transformative times including digitalisation, shift towards environmentally sustainable tourism, demographic changes all of which have been amplified by the severe shocks caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, geopolitical tensions and the most recent energy crisis. According to Eurostat data, the total number of nights spent at tourist accommodation establishments in the EU27 has reached 95% of pre-pandemic levels in 2022 and industry experts expect the ecosystem to grow further with a renewed wave of tourists in 2024. These are promising prospects, however, there are a range of key challenges on the front of sustainability and decarbonisation that the ecosystem has to address. It has to do so, while further embracing the impacts and opportunities of digitalisation and aim to deliver better value for their customers. In this context, the next two sections summarise the key findings of this study regarding the status and progress of the tourism ecosystem on its path towards digitalisation and a green ‘modus operandi’.
- Regional impact of climate change on European tourism demand
European Commission, Joint Research Centre, Anca Matei, N., García-León, D., et al., Publications Office of the European Union, 2023.
The tourism industry, a significant contributor to European GDP, may face considerable stress due to climate change. This study examines the potential impact of climate change on tourism demand in European regions in the 2100 time horizon. Using data from 269 European regions over a 20-year monthly timespan, we estimate the effect of current climatic conditions (rated with a Tourism Climatic Index, TCI), on tourism demand, considering various regional typologies. Our findings reveal that climate conditions significantly affect tourism demand, with coastal regions being the most impacted areas.
Next, we simulate the impacts of future climate change on tourism demand for four warming levels (1.5°C, 2°C, 3°C, and 4°C) under two emissions pathways (RCP4.5 and RCP8.5). We find a clear north-south pattern in tourism demand changes, with northern regions benefitting from climate change and southern regions facing significant reductions in tourism demand; that pattern becomes more pronounced for higher warming scenarios. The seasonal distribution of tourism demand would also change, with relative reductions in summer and increases in the shoulder and winter seasons.
- Tourism and rural development
European Committee of the Regions, Commission for Natural Resources, Marcinkowska, I., Maj, A., Sidło, K., European Committee of the Regions, 2024.
This study analyses the role of tourism in rural development. It explores the challenges and opportunities for public authorities interested in boosting their rural tourism profiles and making tourism an effective tool for rural development. The study highlights the relationship between the long-term vision for rural areas and tourism policy and describes how to access funds to support such policy developments. It provides a review of good practice examples and evaluates their scalability and potential for reproduction in other regions across the EU.
- Transition pathway for tourism
European Commission, Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs, Publications Office of the European Union, 2022.
On 10 March 2020, the Commission adopted a new industrial strategy. The aim was to help EU industry lead the green and digital transformations and to boost the EU's global competitiveness and open strategic autonomy. In light of the experience of the COVID-19 pandemic, the update of the EU industrial strategy highlighted the need to further accelerate the green and digital transitions and increase the resilience of the EU industrial ecosystems. To do so, the Commission proposed launching transition pathways that are co-created with stakeholders, as an essential collaborative process to help the transformation of industrial ecosystems.
As the tourism ecosystem was the hardest hit by the pandemic and faces major challenges to achieve the twin transition, it was the first industrial ecosystem in which a co-creation process was launched to develop a transition pathway. The aim of this report is to describe the measures and outputs needed to accelerate the green and digital transitions and improve the resilience of the tourism ecosystem. The objective is to encourage and invite all groups and stakeholders in the tourism ecosystem to engage and play their part in the initiative. The work to prepare the pathway has followed a collaborative approach involving all stakeholder groups. Similar active and productive collaboration should support also the way forward. Following the publication of this report, the Commission will invite tourism stakeholders to present their commitments to the transition pathway for tourism, and it will establish collaboration processes for the co-implementation and monitoring of the work. The follow-up of the transition pathway will be facilitated by an online stakeholder collaboration platform, which is to be established by end of 2022. The transition pathway work also meets the request of the European Council in its conclusions of 27 May 2021 to invite “the Commission and Member States, in participation with relevant stakeholders, to design a European Agenda for Tourism 2030/2050”. The follow-up to the Member States initiatives and to the EU Agenda for Tourism will be supported by the Tourism Advisory Committee. The Commission will also keep the Council informed of progress on co-implementing the tourism transition pathway through the Working Party on Tourism. The Industrial Forum oversees the transition pathways of all industrial ecosystems and will also be regularly updated on progress on the transition pathway for tourism.
- Transition pathway for tourism – Taking stock of progress by 2023
European Commission, Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs, Publications Office of the European Union, 2024.
In 2021, the European tourism industry was still reeling from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Against that backdrop, the 2021 update of the EU’s Industrial Strategy stressed the importance of supporting the recovery of the tourism ecosystem, while also making the most of the opportunity to accelerate the green and digital transitions. It was in this context that the transition pathway for tourism was launched. The transition pathway for tourism was developed through an 8-month-long co-creation process in 2021 and published in February 2022.
It recognised 27 areas of action to help the European tourism community to: successfully recover from the pandemic while meeting the changing demand of technically savvy and increasingly environmentally and socially conscious consumers; - effectively contribute to the ambitious EU Green Deal and Digital Decade objectives; and build long-term resilience. Two years later, this first stock-taking exercise shows that the transition pathway co-creation process was successful in identifying key areas for action and defining relevant objectives to inspire different groups of stakeholders to take action. While this report identifies some suggestions for improvement, the overall approach has proven successful in supporting the collective work towards achieving the transition of the EU tourism ecosystem and building its resilience.
- User manual – EU Ecolabel criteria for tourist accommodation
European Commission, Joint Research Centre, Pérez Arribas, Z., Vidal Abarca Garrido, C., et al., Publications Office of the European Union, 2023.
On 25 January 2017 Tourist accommodation shed in Commission Decision 2017/175, within the scheme of the EU Ecolabel Regulation (Regulation (EC) No 66/2010). This User Manual (UM) is a practical tool that summarises the steps to be followed by EU Ecolabel applicants in order to verify the compliance with the abovementioned Commission Decision. More concretely, this manuscript supports the interpretation of the EU Ecolabel criteria for Tourist accommodation and provides a good and up-to-date overview of the existent legislation and initiatives behind each EU Ecolabel criterion. This document also gives practical explanation on how to assess and verify the compliance check. The UM aims to optimise the time and ease the procedures of all the actors involved in the application stage by improving the technical understanding of sustainable product policy among intended audience (external stakeholders) and boost the number of certified tourist accommodation services products.
- Last Updated: Nov 12, 2024 5:34 PM
- URL: https://ec-europa-eu.libguides.com/sustainable-tourism
- Print Page