The figures
Tourism is one of the key economic sectors in the European Union.
- 2.3 million businesses
- 12 million employees.
- In 2018, the travel and tourism sector accounted for 3.9% of the EU’s GDP and employed 5.1% of the total workforce.
However, this trend was changed in early 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The european tourism policy
Since 1999, the European Union has always wanted to pay more attention to the tourism sector and economy. Since then, several strategies have been adopted.
- the Communication of 30 June 2010 [COM(2010)0352], “Europe, the world’s leading tourist destination – a new policy framework for European tourism”, which analyses the factors and obstacles for the competitiveness of tourism and its sustainable development
- the Communication of 7 November 2012 [COM(2012)0649], “Implementing and improving the common visa policy as a lever for growth in the EU”, which aims to increase tourist flows from third countries through the common visa policy
- the Communication of 20 February 2014 [COM(2014)0086], “A European strategy for more growth and jobs in coastal and maritime tourism”, which aims to promote sustainable growth and competitiveness in coastal and maritime tourism.
Numerous European legislations have been adopted to facilitate European tourism policy such as t
Tourism after the covid-19 pandemic
The global health crisis due to the Covid-19 pandemic has affected several sectors and tourism is one of the most affected. The crisis has caused not only a drop in the GDP derived from this sector, i.e. 10% of the European Union’s GDP, but also a considerable loss of jobs which the European Union estimates could range from 14.2 to 29.5 million jobs that could disappear.
Faced with this situation, the European Commission had to react very quickly by adopting measures capable of circumventing or at least reducing the consequences of this disaster, but also to prevent the virus from spreading throughout the continent.
These measures include, for example
- a proposal for a temporary suspension of the rules obliging airlines to use the slots allocated to them at EU airports [COM(2020)111] ;
- guidance on EU passenger rights [C(2020)1830] and border controls [C(2020)1753] ;
- and repatriation assistance for European travellers during containment.
Everyday tourism
Given the cultural heritage that the European Union has, it is only natural that tourism is one of the sectors in which the EU invests. In France, for example, two museums in northern France have benefited from EU funding. These are the Cité de la dentelle in Calais and the Louvre-Lens, which allows visitors to discover the world-renowned treasures of the Parisian museum at affordable prices.
The EU is also interested and invested in the preservation and safeguarding of archaeological sites. For example, it has also contributed to the development of the archaeological sites of the limes by focusing on a heritage that is included in the list of works preserved by UNESCO.
Initiatives and funding
European Capital of Tourism : Since 2018, the European Commission awards two cities per year for their actions in favour of sustainable, inclusive, innovative tourism and protecting cultural heritage.
Tourism does not benefit from its own budget line, but due to its transversality, the different European programmes allow to support tourism projects, such as the ERASMUS+ programme for tourism training, the EUROPE CREATIVE programme for cultural tourism projects, or the INTERREG programmes which finance the development of new cross-border or transnational tourism products.