European Union Action in the Tourism Sector - Improving Support Measures for Sustainable Tourism

Studija 15-02-2002

The report is based on the analysis of a number of documents from the EU and the industry relevant to the nature of the tourism sector, policy-making issues, and the more general area of sustainable development. The introduction to the report outlines the process of sustainable tourism. It briefly discusses the effects of the 11th September, and provides a brief overview of the European tourism industry and its place in the global economy. The first part of the report presents options on EU policy improvements that would facilitate the move towards this process. A total of 26 recommendations are suggested, alongside a systemic methodology to guide their implementation. The second Part of the report examines the arguments and evidence behind the policy improvement recommendations. It separates current EC funding programmes and EC sustainable development strategies, demonstrating current types of support measures for sustainable tourism. Evidence from four Member States (Germany, the UK, Portugal and Italy) is presented in this section to augment the perspective from which to view the policy recommendations of Part A. A series of Annexes support the document, including the reports from the four countries and information on EU funding programmes.