Time for the industry to start selling Europe’s historical and cultural tapestry

Date: 14/11/02

By Karen Carstens

With tourism in the EU expected to create two million extra jobs in the next decade, the fragmented sector needs to make the most of its future opportunities.

ALTHOUGH tourism is one of the EU's most important industries, it suffers from having no clear political master or policy direction. For some observers, it is something of an untameable beast.

'There are a lot of political challenges in getting all the different sectors within tourism to speak with one voice,' said James Provan, vice-president of the European Parliament and chairman of its cross-party group on tourism.

For example, at one recent policy event there were 47 groups representing the tourism industry at the EU level alone. 'When you've got 47 voices speaking for tourism, it's difficult to speak with one voice,' he said.

According to the European Commission, tourism directly employs around eight million people in the EU, the most visited region in the world.

This represents roughly 5 of total employment and gross domestic product, and 30 of total external trade in services. If related activities such as transport are taken into account, these figures rise to 20 million jobs and account for roughly 12 of GDP.

Moreover, some sources estimate that travel and tourism jobs will increase by two million over the next decade.

But the EU has no real competence over this vast yet highly fragmented sector.

Moreover, it has relatively little knowledge about how it works, because most tourism-related firms are small or medium-sized businesses (SMEs), and methods of gathering data often vary between member states and regions.

Currently, more than 99 of such firms employ fewer than 250 staff. This figure includes small cafés and bars, which are also an integral part of the industry.

In an effort to 'speak with one voice', the London-based European Tourism Industry Network (ETIN), was established last year. It brings together more than 50 tourism associations in the EU.

Still, the motto of one major tourism organisation, the Network of European Private Entrepreneurs in the Tourism Sector, put forward in its 'NET Manifesto' of September 2000, is 'united yet diverse'.

Commissioner Erkki Liikanen, whose Enterprise DG houses the Commission's tourism unit, wants to redress the imbalance. In the wake of several failed attempts at introducing a common tourism policy in the late 1990s, he proposed a non-binding 'cooperative approach' among member states in November 2001.

In May, the Council unanimously adopted this measure - the first time EU ministers had adopted a resolution specifically on tourism.

Among other things, it urges closer monitoring of how EU legislation might affect the tourism sector and suggests setting up a system for creating a 'harmonised and operational basis' for gathering and reporting tourism's vital statistics.

'Tourism is a very labour-intensive industry and its visibility within the European landscape is clearly increasing,' said Liikanen's spokesman, Per Haugaard.

The Commission is also hosting a 'European Tourism Forum' in Brussels on 10 December. Intended as the first of a series of annual tourism summit-style gatherings, 'it will be a very high-level discussion,' Haugaard said, bringing stakeholders from both the industry and policy side together.

However, British MEP Provan, who will be a key speaker at the tourism forum event's concluding session on 'the way ahead', remains sceptical.

'It's seen as a successful sector but there could be a lot more coordination involved there are certain things that the tourism industry as a whole could do,' he said.

For example, Provan went on, if the Commission's proposed 'Single Sky' initiative could get off the ground in Europe, 25 of fuel costs could be reduced for all European airlines.

But, Provan said, 'the tourism sector needs to call for it,' noting that there is only so much MEPs and other policymakers can do if the industry fails to get involved.

'We are currently losing world market share especially to the Far East,' he added.

For instance, the 'sun and sand' sector, based primarily in southern Europe, is losing out to cheaper destinations in south-east Asia and the Caribbean. Nevertheless, 'alternative' forms of tourism, such as cultural or sporting holidays, are on the rise in Europe.

Figures from 1999 show that suchholidays are increasing almost three times as fast as the classic 'sun and sand' market.

According to the Commission's tourism unit, 'people are placing greater emphasis on quality products, more environmentally conscious forms of tourism and on shorter but more frequent trips.'

One way to capitalise on these new challenges in Europe 'is to consider developing sustainable tourism based on the continent's rich natural and cultural heritage.'

According to the Madrid-based World Tourism Organisation, such alternative holidays are expected to account for more than 20 of all travel in the next 20 years.

Jaime-Axel Ruis, Brussels-based director-general of the European Travel Commission, which represents the tourism bureaux of 33 European countries, said Europe is still 'the best product' in the global market.

'We want to maintain our number one position,' he said. 'And we have all the prestige, culture, security and diversity to do so.'

While the number of American visitors to Europe declined dramatically in the wake of the 11 September terrorist attacks - from 13 million in 2000 to an estimated 10.5 million in 2002 - there are still a lot of EU citizens visiting each other's countries, he said.

Moreover, he added, there are big new emerging tourism markets, with the Chinese in particular expected to visit Europe more frequently in coming decades.

Provan said the EU should not miss the opportunity of using the next round of enlargement to market itself as a tourism destination.

'This would be a good 'peg' to try and attract new visitors to Europe,' he said. 'Europe offers such a rich historical and cultural tapestry - that's what people want to see and touch when they come here.'

With tourism in the EU expected to create two million extra jobs in the next decade, the fragmented sector needs to make the most of its future opportunities.