Commissioner Bienkowska outlined in her first speech on tourism the eight tourism policy priorities for her mandate. The Commissioner would like to present a more detailed plan of actions around the eight main priorities during the European Tourism Forum in Luxembourg on 17-18 September. The Commission is organising a number of meetings with stakeholders (Member States, industry, NGOs, etc.) to discuss and express their position on issues of common interest of the Commissioner’s priorities of EU tourism policy. The aim of these meetings is to provide the Commission with first orientations for the development of a detailed action plan.
ECTAA has been invited to attend these meetings, and allows all members, including ANAT, to express comments on the 8 priority policies, and to raise new points of interest to be submitted to the Commission.
Please find hereunder a short presentation of the priorities:
1. Streamlining the regulatory framework for tourism at European, national, regional and local level
The Commission is now seeking industry’s views on the following proposed actions under this point:
- Assessment of the existing regulatory and administrative framework impacting on tourism with a focus on the EU level;
- Assessment at EU level of the role of tourism related taxation and the potential impacts on the competitiveness and attractiveness of destinations;
- Close cooperation within the Commission with Directorate-Generals in lead for different simplification, fitness check or evaluation exercise regarding legislative initiatives which have a direct impact on tourism. The following is planned in the Commission programme: (i) Simplification of the misleading and comparative advertising Directive, (ii) evaluation of the timeshare Directive, (iii) fitness check of consumer rights and advertising legislation including unfair commercial practices (B2C) and unfair terms Directives;
- Events /workshops to inform about EU legislation applicable to tourism;
- Exchange of best practice between national tourism administrations.
ECTAA participated to the consultation highlighting where existing EU legislation was either too excessive, too complex, too restrictive, too costly or lacks transparency. Recently ECTAA has insisted under this priority point the need to avoid the proliferation of taxes at European, national, regional and local level that makes Europe as a destination too expensive and uncompetitive with other emerging tourism destinations.
ECTAA has also highlighted the need to revise the VAT scheme for travel agents, which is excessively burdensome (no global margin calculation allowed) and makes European travel
agents and Europe as a destination uncompetitive as VAT becomes a cost in B2B transactions (not recoverable), and supports the proposed action to:
- carry out an assessment of the existing (EU) regulatory and administrative framework impacting on tourism. ECTAA would strongly recommend to analyse the impact of the outdated VAT provisions for travel agents on the competitiveness of Europe as a base for doing business and as a destination;
- Assess at EU level the role of tourism related taxation and the potential impact on the competitiveness of European destinations;
- Cooperate with other Commission DGs responsible for simplification / fitness check / evaluation exercises regarding legislative initiatives which have an impact on tourism. This has indeed been done very effectively in the past in relation to PTD and IMD and should continue;
2. Promoting the digitalisation of the tourism SMEs
Digital innovation is key to the competitiveness of the tourism industry, but the European tourism SMEs are lagging behind in using the potential offered by modern technologies. The Commission has implemented a number of initiatives aiming at the enhancement of digitalisation of SMEs in tourism. On May 6th , the Commission adopted the Single Digital Market Strategy, the aim of which is to enhance the digital economy by dismantling barriers and moving from 28 national markets to a single market. The strategy is built on 3 pillars and contains 16 initiatives, the most relevant for transport and tourism including the following:
Pillar 1: Better access for consumers and businesses to digital goods and services across Europe
- Legislative proposals for simple and effective cross-border contract rules for consumers and businesses, which include harmonised EU rules on contracts and consumer protection when buying online
- A wide ranging review to prepare legislative proposals to tackle unjustified geo-blocking (a discriminatory practice used for commercial reasons, when online sellers either deny consumers access to a website based on their location, or re-route them to a local store with different prices.)
- Competition sector inquiry into e-commerce, relating to the online trade of goods and the online provision of services, in order to allow the Commission to identify possible competition concerns. The e-commerce enquiry has already been launched, which may be relevant in relation to OTAs imposing rate parity agreements which stifle competition among suppliers and distributors.
- Legislative proposals to reduce the administrative burden on businesses arising from different VAT regimes
Pillar 2: Creating the right conditions for digital networks and services to flourish
Comprehensive analysis of the role of online platforms (including search engines) in the market, which will cover issues such as the non-transparency of search results and of pricing policies, how they use the information they acquire, relationships between platforms and suppliers and the promotion of their own services to the disadvantage of competitors – to the extent these are not already covered by competition law. This may be relevant in relation to search engines that do not abide with price transparency rules.
Pillar 3: Maximising the growth potential of the Digital Economy
Adoption of a Priority ICT Standards Plan and extending the European Interoperability Framework for public services, including for transport (e.g. multi-modal travel information systems). Under this priority point, the Commission is proposing the following action points:
- Optimisation of the Tourism Business Portal and continuation of webinars;
- Assessment of the impact of digitalisation on tourism and the sharing/collaborative economy in the tourism industry;
- Facilitating dialogue between digital and traditional tourism stakeholders via events, networks, etc.
- SME access to e-skills and e-leadership
ECTAA will be reviewing the Single Digital Market Strategy in order to assess the priorities for the tourism industry and whether all issues are adequately covered, and supports the proposed action to assess the impact of the collaborative economy in the tourism industry. ECTAA further welcomes the creation of an informal Task Force on the Collaborative Economy, the objective of which is to analyse the phenomenon, assess the positive and negative impacts and make recommendations, which will feed into the planned Communication on the Internal Market Strategy expected in November 2015.
3. Upgrading skills and competences in the tourism sector
The competences of professionals are a key element for a consumer-oriented service like tourism. Insufficient skills to cater for the needs of modern travellers are quoted as key barriers to the competitiveness of EU tourism. The Commission is proposing the following actions under this priority point:
- Identification of the gap between the education supply and labour market demand (mapping study is ongoing and results will published)
- Cooperation with relevant Commission DGs to mainstream a tourism dimension in other services’ projects (e.g. sector skills councils);
- Development and dissemination of e-/m-skills taxonomy / framework / guidelines on adaptation of existing tourism curricula;
- SME access to e-skills and e-leadership (e.g. YouTube live seminars).
ECTAA has not been involved in this area. Many Members are involved in providing training or upskilling for their Members at national level.
4. Promoting sustainable and responsible tourism, among other through adoption of a Charter for Sustainable and Responsible Tourism
Sustainability is a fundamental aspect for the European tourism competitiveness in the short, medium and long term, therefore it is important to work on raising awareness about the sustainable and responsible tourism supply (public authorities, destinations and business) and demand (tourists). Proposed concrete actions under this priority point:
- Adoption of a European Charter for Sustainable and Responsible Tourism address to all stakeholders (public authorities, destination, businesses and tourists). A draft has already been prepared some two years ago.
- Joint EU /UNWTO event on ethical and responsible tourism (April 2016)
- Promote accessibility for PRMs, facilitate exchange of good practices, etc.
While tourism is very price sensitive and travellers are not yet ready to pay more for sustainable tourism services, it is increasingly recognised that travellers expect their destination to be clean, protected, well managed, so sustainable management of destinations and by service providers is taken for granted. ECTAA can support the adoption of a European Charter for Sustainable and Responsible Tourism but stresses to avoid duplication with the UNWTO Code of Ethics in Tourism in terms of content and registration/reporting obligations.
5. Fostering low and medium season tourism exchanges
Seasonality is a constant challenge for the European tourism as it often impacts negatively on a destination’s economic fabric and business models, as well as on its socio-cultural and ecological environment. Fostering low and medium tourism exchanges, in particular, for senior and youth, and encouraging the diversification of tourism products and services to address the needs of these tourists, could be of value- added. Proposed concrete actions under this priority point:
- Support via calls for proposals of trans-national project partnerships to foster low and medium season exchanges for seniors and youth, and to set up a business model for an age-friendly tourism.
- Analysis of seasonality patterns in the EU and inventory of senior & youth tourism profile (i.e. assessment of travel needs, preferences and trends);
- Elaboration of guidelines for the design of transnational tourism packages for elderly and young tourists in low-medium season;
- Organisation of dedicated workshops for awareness-raising and exchange of best practice.
The Commission has been engaged some time now in promoting tourism in the low and medium season by targeting in particular seniors. ECTAA has repeatedly mentioned the positive aspects of extending the tourism season and dismantling possible barriers to seniors travelling, but has insisted that the Commission and public authorities should not get involved in the design and development of tourism products, which should be entirely left to the market. ECTAA has also expressed doubts about the development of a branding Europe strategy, which has since been dropped.
6. Improving intermodality and connectivity
Insufficient transport connectivity is a serious challenge for EU tourism. The improvement of inter-modality and transport connectivity is a key issue to tourism development, in particular in remote and peripheral areas for which tourism is an economic driver and sometimes the backbone of the economy. Proposed concrete actions by the Commission under this priority point:
- Analysis of the challenges to providing better connectivity and intermodality from major hubs to tourism destinations in close cooperation with the OECD Tourism Committee;
- Cooperation with relevant Commission DGs to help deliver multimodal travel information, planning and ticketing services;
- Facilitate cooperation and coordination amongst transport modes stakeholders to enhance intermodality and interconnectivity.
ECTAA is participating as Observer in an industry initiative (FSM) to develop an interoperability standard for the distribution of rail products, otherwise this is not a high priority of ECTAA Members.
7. Joint promotion of Europe as a tourist destination, mainly in third countries
The EU is the world’s number one tourist destination. However, in light of the increasing competition from emerging markets, the EU’s share of international tourist arrivals is predicted to decrease, therefore, in order to keep Europe’s leading position as a tourist destination, supporting promotion of Europe and its destinations, in particular via promotion of transnational/pan-European thematic products is essential. Proposed concrete actions:
- Support the diversification of the tourism offer, in particular through the development and promotion of transnational and pan-European thematic products;
- Continued cooperation with the European Travel Commission (ETC);
- Facilitate and support the launch of a joint public-private partnership initiative for the promotion of Europe via the promotion of thematic products and encourage a much closer involvement of the EU tourism industry, like in similar joint promotion initiatives in USA, Australia, Germany and Switzerland (which also have federal structures);
- Events and communication campaigns.
This point was already debated at the last ECTAA meeting in Tallinn. Members’ views were mixed, with some seeing benefit in joint promotion of Europe in important third-country markets, while others expressing reservations about public involvement and added value. ECTAA was invited to express its views on this subject at ITB in Berlin, and recalled that tourism development is the competence of Member States. Moreover, any initiative should not be funded by raising additional taxes or levies on tourism. Finally, ECTAA insisted that before promoting Europe, we should ensure that Europe is attractive, affordable and accessible (less burdensome visas, avoid unnecessary taxes and VAT, ensure an efficient legislative framework, etc.).
ECTAA has mitigated views on the need to develop a European branding and/or promotion strategy to be jointly financed by Member States and industry and would welcome the conduct of market research of such an initiative and would favour if the Commission’s involvement would be one of ‘facilitator’ rather than ‘regulator’. ECTAA would also welcome DG GROW’s continued support in the adoption of the visa package and further visa facilitation agreements, which would make Europe more accessible for legitimate travellers.
8. Improving the governance of tourism
Governance of tourism is a complex issue involving numerous types of public and private actors at several levels: EU, national, regional and local. It is essential to improve the governance of tourism issues both within the Commission and between the Commission and other EU institutions, but also at the level of the national administrations of the Member States and within the industry at large. Proposed concrete actions under this priority point:
- Improve cooperation with relevant other DGs within the Commission, with the other institutions as well as with national administrations, the industry and other stakeholders;
- Organize meetings between the TAC (national tourism administrations) and the industry on pre-defined topics;
The Tourism Unit has already played in the past a key role in liaising with other DGs and representing the interests of the tourism industry, including ECTAA, such as revision of PTD, insurance mediation, VAT scheme for travel agents. The Commission has highlighted on a number of occasions, that the tourism industry should speak with one voice. There is too much fragmentation and too many different associations and networks that do not coordinate their messages. The tourism industry is far more important than the automotive industry in terms of GDP contribution, but the automotive industry has a powerful lobby. There is no equivalent lobby in the tourism industry.
ECTAA supports improved cooperation among EU institutions and between the Commission and stakeholders (Member States and industry), and will endeavour to improve cooperation with other sectors of the travel and tourism industry, notably through NET (Network for the European Private Sector in Tourism), but has doubts about the success of a travel and tourism value chain platform, as tourism is by nature very diverse.
In parallel to the work carried out by the Commission, the European Parliament is working on an own initiative report entitled ‘New challenges and concepts for the promotion of Tourism in Europe’, which addresses many issues that are also covered by the Commission priorities, and is available from the following link.
For further information, please find the European tourism strategy and action plan for 2015-2020, as well as the working document drafted after the meeting with stakeholders on the strategy and action plan, dated May 7, 2015, both in English.
Members are kindly asked to send their comments or indicate other concerns about the points of interest proposed by the Commission, by email to office@anat.ro, until June 15th, 2015.
