Concrete measures for closure and opening of borders, establishing clear protocols such as the EU COVID-19 Certificate without additional burden, increasing vaccination rates, supporting all tourism sectors including MICE and using the crisis as an opportunity to shift to sustainable tourism were the key matters raised by EPP-CoR members during a debate on the recovery in the tourism, hotel and catering sector.
CoR President Apostolos Tzitzikostas said that LRAs are already feeling the impact of the loss from the tourism, hotel and catering sectors. "Regions and cities can't afford to lose another tourism season. All levels, EU, National and local/regional must work together so save the sector by safely reopening it for the benefit of all. The Recovery and Resilience Facility will be key to save tourism but LRAs must be fully engaged to build a resilient and sustainable tourism sector."
Elisabeth Köstinger, Federal Minister of Agriculture, Regions and Tourism of Austria spoke on the role of tourism for regional development. She said "Regions have an important role to play in the recovery and tourism is key to improve the quality of life of local communities. Restarting tourism needs cooperation among all levels."
Cláudia Monteiro De Aguiar, Member of the European Parliament said that its time to join forces and come together to support affected regions, especially islands and outermost regions, because of loss of tourism. She spoke on measures such as reducing VAT to support tourism recovery and investment in skills to prepare the tourism and hospitality sectors for the digital transition.
Nikola Dobroslavić, President of Dubrovnik-Neretva said that in his region, tourism represents more than 20% of the GDP. He added that his region experienced 80% drop in tourism leaving a negative economic impact. In this regard he said "It is essential to increase the vaccination rate in tourist regions and allow free movement of citizens across the EU as soon as possible for which it is necessary to establish protocols, which will also benefit tourism."
Donato Toma, President of the Molise region said that SMEs which characterize the tourism sector are key for the economy and social stability of regions. He said "Molise, is a clear example of this. Small family-run and micro-enterprises are waiting for answers in a timely manner. The creation of the EU COVID-19 Certificate that facilitates and secures free movement within the EU must be an opportunity, and not an additional burden for citizens." In his conclusion, Toma said that the current crisis confronts cities and regions with the challenge of rethinking the tourism of the future in a more sustainable way.
Hanna Zdanowska, Mayor of Łódź ,said that Łódź bases its tourism economy on business tourism and the sector relies on MICE event participants. As a result of the pandemic, the number of MICE events decreased by 77% compared to the average of previous years. "International events are important not only in terms of revenues. Most of all, they serve to exchange ideas, knowledge and experience that drives our development and will be crucial to the healthy, efficient and sustainable recovery of the European economy after the pandemic. Therefore, I call on the European Commission not to omit business tourism when designing aid programmes for the European tourism industry."
Sonja Ledl-Rossman, President of the Regional Parliament of the Tyrol said that European criteria for border closures or for border openings must be standardised. She said that apart from incidence figures decisions must be based on other criteria such as the number of tests carried out, the hospitalization rate and the available hospital or intensive care beds. Referring to border regions - such as in the district of Reutte in the north of the Tyrol directly on the border to Germany, Ledl-Rossman said that hotels and restaurants are particularly affected by border closures. A large part of their customers are day trippers and short holidaymakers, who are lost in the first place due to closed borders.
Piero Mauro Zanin, President of the Regional Council of Friuli Venezia Giulia said that actions to support the tourism sector are more necessary than ever. He called for the promotion of sustainable slow tourism through the creation of cycle paths and the enhancement of regional Unesco sites, the promotion of tourism in mountain areas and the promotion of food and wine tourism by supporting businesses that use organic products and distribute locally.
Rastislav Trnka, Chairman of Košice Self – Governing Region spoke on the need to push forward sustainable tourism and the need to invest most in the sector through green projects.
Bert Häggblom, Member of the Parliament of Åland said that whereas 9.3 million tourists traveled to the islands in 2019, the number fell to 2.4 million during the pandemic. A huge proportion of the population works in tourism sector and as a result unemployment went up to 12%. He appealed for a European year of Tourism 2021-2022 to give a boost to the tourism sector towards recovery.
Sari Rautio, Chair of City Board of Hämeenlinna and Vice-Chair of Association of Finnish Local and Regional Authorities said that the crisis is an opportunity. "This is a chance to change existing models and shift to sustainable tourism. It is good to support investment but let's combine this to our European objectives to achieve sustainability."
Ivan Aleksiev, Mayor of Pomorie municipality, said that the severe crisis in the tourism sector is also an opportunity to move to green and sustainable transformation of the sector. Therefore, local and regional authorities must be involved as equals in shaping and managing the National Recovery and Resilience Plans.
Agnès Rampal, Vice President of the Métropole Nice-Côte d’Azur and member of Region Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur Regional Council said "We need a macro regional strategy for the Mediterranean to ensure recovery of the tourism sector."