Change of direction for Union’s tourism strategy

Date: 17/04/1997

By Rory Watson

A RADICAL shift in the European Commission's strategy for helping the Union's tourism industry is under way.

In sharp contrast to the earlier practice of part-funding dozens of projects every year, the Commission intends to concentrate in future on a handful of core programmes and on coordinating the tourism potential of other mainstream EU policies.

“We want to get away from the idea that a policy's success should be judged on a large number of visible projects. We only want specific activities where these complement the work being carried out in other Commission departments,” explained one senior official.

The change in emphasis being introduced by the Tourism Commissioner Christos Papoutsis is designed to increase the effectiveness of Union support for one of Europe's major industries. It is also aimed at re-establishing wider confidence in an EU policy area whose image has been badly tarnished by allegations of inefficiency and fraud.

Between 1993 and 1995, the Commission's small tourism department supported and supervised almost 200 separate projects with 20 million ecu of EU finance.

“That involved an exceedingly heavy workload on the staff involved,” said one source, adding: “We will never go back to 50 schemes a year as in the past. This year, for instance, we are likely to launch ten projects at the very most.”

The Commission has so far identified half a dozen areas where it believes it can encourage the Union's tourism potential under the twin banners of competitiveness and quality. Each is linked to a wider EU policy area.

Although only limited funds (4 million ecu) are specifically available to the Commission's tourism department this year, considerably larger sums have been set aside for tourism projects in other policy areas. They range from over 7 billion ecu between 1994 and 1999 in structural funds to around 800 million over the same period from the Common Agricultural Policy.

“Almost every Commission department, whether it be telematics or fisheries, has projects which have an impact on tourism. We can work with them and help develop the tourist potential,” said one official.

One of this year's major themes will be to investigate, with the Commission's Directorate-General for economic affairs (DGII), the effect of a single currency on tourism.

Similarly, with the Union struggling to tackle unemployment, tourism officials will consult major employers such as airlines and hotels on possible job trends and the training and managerial skills they will be looking for in the future. Other schemes will examine ways of clamping down on sex tourism, developing possible tourist links with countries in the Mediterranean and central and eastern Europe, and assessing the impact of new World Trade Organisation rules on EU-based companies wishing to offer tourism facilities outside the Union.

Papoutsis is also determined to get agreement this year on a medium-term financial and policy framework for tourism policy by pressing EU governments to approve the proposed four-year Philoxenia programme.

With the scheme now facing German, Dutch and British opposition, the Commission's 1997 work agenda is restricted to one-year exploratory or pilot projects.

The shift in emphasis is also expected to see a gradual expansion in the Commission's tourism department, with an increase in the number of 'A' grade officials from nine now to 15 by the end of the year.