Leading tourism business alliance presents its proposals for the future European Tourism Policy to European Commission Vice-President Antonio Tajani.

Brussels, 28 September 2010 – On the occasion of the European Tourism Day (27 September) and following the publication in June 2010 of the European Commission communication “Europe, the world’s No1 tourist destination – a new political framework for tourism in Europe”, the Network of European Private Entrepreneurs in the Tourism Sector (NET) today met with the European Commission’s Vice President in charge of tourism, Antonio Tajani, to present the industry priorities for the future European Tourism Policy, in light of the new competencies acquired by the EU in the field of tourism after the entry into force of the Lisbon EU Treaty in December 2009.

NET leaders expressed their support for the objectives of the Commission Communication to develop a new political framework for tourism, as the first necessary step towards an ambitious, cooperative and business-friendly European Tourism Policy, to benefit the European public and visitors alike.

Addressing tourism industry leaders, Vice President Tajani said: “Today's meeting with the NET alliance shows the contribution of tourism businesses and operators to the implementation of the European Commission communication “Europe, the world’s No1 tourist destination – a new political framework for tourism in Europe”. The proposals presented to me by NET will support the concrete implementation of many of the key actions of our Communication. Together we can make tourism in Europe more competitive, more sustainable and more diversified.”

In response, NET leaders proposed the establishment of a permanent round table of public and private stakeholders, to ensure an efficient implementation and follow up of the 4 objectives and the 21 actions foreseen in the Commission Communication.

NET especially emphasised the need to strengthen the role and resources of the Commission’s Tourism Unit, to match ambitions with resources and to guarantee that tourism concerns and interests are taken into account properly in other policy areas.

NET leaders declared that standards applied to tourism services should be industry-driven to reflect their specificity and needs, and that standardisation bodies should not take any initiative without the full support of the respective industry concerned and its customers.

See NET’s comments on the Commission Communication on Tourism

* * *

Press contacts:

ECC, Tim Marking, +32 2 5106127, tim.marking@cruisecouncil.eu

ECTAA, Paolina Marone, +32 2 6443450, pmarone@ectaa.org / www.ectaa.org

EFCO&HPA, Den Bannister, +44 1452 508515, d.bannister@bhhpa.org.uk

ETOA, David Tarsh, david@tarsh.com, +44 (0)207 6025262, www.etoa.org

HOTREC, Anna TORRES, CEO/HOTREC, + 32 2 5136323, main@hotrec.org / www.hotrec.eu

IAPPA, Andreas Andersen, +32 2 401 61 61, aandersen@iaapa.org / www.iaapa.org/europe.

IRU, Juliette Ebélé, +41 22 918 27 07, press@iru.org / www.busandcoach.travel / www.iru.org