Knowledge Networking Portal for Sustainable & Responsible Tourism
EU: 27 topics for the green transition of tourism
On 4th February the European Commission unveiled the transition pathway for tourism, the first in a series of transition pathways for EU industrial ecosystems.
The transition pathway identifies 27 areas of measures for the green and digital transition, and for improving the resilience of EU tourism. It calls for more circular and environmentally friendly services in tourism, enhancing data sharing for more innovative services, and improving accessibility of services, among others.
Meeting the demand for more sustainable tourism
The competitiveness of the EU tourism industry will largely depend on its capacity to meet the need and customer demand to become more sustainable. A Eurobarometer survey from October 202168 indicated that 82% of Europeans are willing to change their travel habits for more sustainable practices, including consuming locally sourced products, reducing waste and water consumption, travelling off-season or to less visited destinations and choosing transport options based on their ecological impact. Their key interests in selecting destinations are nature (41%) and culture (42%), and a third would be ready to pay more to support local nature and local communities. Other surveys also show that 65% of travellers would be interested in engaging with authentic experiences related to local culture69 (social sustainability).
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Green transition of tourism companies and SMEs: Actions, Actors, Output The report connects 27 topics with concrete actions, responsible actors and intent output. Topic 8 recommends the "Green transition of tourism companies and SMEs" with following actions: |
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a) Tourism companies, including SMEs, to register to EMAS b) Tourism accommodations, including SMEs to apply for the EU Ecolabel or other EN ISO 14024 type I ecolabels or equivalent voluntary labels, which are independent, multi-criteria based and third party verified c) Tourism operators to use relevant EU Green public procurement (GPP) criteria where applicable d) Capacity-building programmes, technical and financial assistance for SMEs to engage in environmentally friendly practices and schemes |
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Key actors are SMEs, Tourism industry, National, regional and local authorities, European Commission, Tourists. |
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a) Increased number of EMAS registered tourism organisations b) Increased number of EU Ecolabel tourism services or accommodations awarded with other EN ISO 14024 type I ecolabels or equivalent voluntary labels which are independent, multi-criteria based and third party verified c) Increased use of relevant EU GPP criteria in purchasing tourism ecosystem services d) Increased involvement of SMEs in ecological certification schemes |
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European Tourism Going Green 2030 The European Tourism Going Green 2030 project is developing and upgrading a set of tools on the Tourism2030 platform to raise the sustainability of tourism SMEs in Europe and to achieve credible certification. The partners in Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Germany, Italy and Romania recently published the ETGG2030 SME Call to support interested tourism businesses in their countries in Going Green and in entering the global Green Travel Maps. |
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| Concerned URL | https://op.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/404a8144-8892-11ec-8c40-01aa75ed71a1 |
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| Address | |
| Source | European Commossion - DG GROW |
| Target group(s) | Destinations , Businesses , Travellers , Education, Research, Consultancy , NGOs, Partnerships, Networks , Governments & Administrations |
| Topics | Certification & Marketing |
