The Future of European Tourism – insights from the mountains

When it comes to tourism policy, the European Union complements the actions of Member States. In 2010, the European Commission published the communication “Europe, the World’s No 1 tourist destination – a new political framework for tourism in Europe” which initiated a series of measures to enhance the value and competitiveness of European tourism.

In this context, a public consultation on the Future of European Tourism was also launched in 2014 in order to identify the key challenges and opportunities for the European tourism industry’s future.

Euromontana has contributed to the consultation to provide some insights and recommendations from mountain areas. The 2014 position paper builds on the previous 2011 Euromontana position paper.

This position paper includes:

• A state of play on mountain tourism, including futures opportunities and long-term challenges such as climate change or mass events like the winter Olympic Games.
• Recommendations for European policymakers to support sustainable mountain tourism. These include the creation of a European Tourism Observatory and improvements on broadband coverage.
• Recommendations for national and regional policymakers to better support sustainable approaches and new models as well to provide better training for the industry.