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Enhancing connectivity, preserving cultural heritage and driving local excellence in European tourism – destination management and regional tourism growth

TA-10-2026-0123 · P10_TA(2026)0123 · PE779.440

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✦ In short · AI summary of this text, generated 4 Sept 2026

Written by a language model from the full text only; every figure comes from the text. The paragraph links open the paragraph a statement rests on — check the text itself before relying on it.

Parliament's resolution on enhancing connectivity, preserving cultural heritage and driving local excellence in European tourism calls for a dedicated EU sustainable tourism strategy, a stand-alone budget line for tourism, and a dedicated directorate-general for sustainable tourism within the Commission. It urges better connectivity for remote, outermost, rural and island regions, including through public service obligations, rail investment, cycling routes and maritime links, and calls for measures to manage tourism flows and address short-term rentals. The resolution stresses the need for quality jobs, upskilling and reskilling, including a tourism skills card, and for protecting cultural heritage and supporting cultural workers and volunteers.

Key points

  1. Affirms that connectivity is a precondition for freedom of movement and calls for benchmarks to assess accessibility, affordability and quality of sustainable travel options, especially for remote and island regions.
  2. Calls on the Commission to study the tourism sector's dependence on dominant players and assess actions to address market concentration and unreasonable price personalisation.
  3. Calls for exploring wider deployment of public service obligations, including multimodal configurations and cross-border night trains, to serve remote and island regions.
  4. Highlights the role of TEN-T and calls for a robust Connecting Europe Facility budget under the next MFF to support sustainable transport and tourism.
  5. Regrets that the new MFF proposal fails to include a dedicated EU programme and budget line for sustainable tourism, and insists that the next MFF should not marginalise regions or reduce funding for global network projects.
  6. Calls for greater EU financial support for public transport, last-mile connections, low- and zero-emission vehicles, and charging infrastructure, particularly in island, rural and outermost regions.
  7. Recognises cycling tourism as strategic and calls for support for EuroVelo and other long-distance cycling routes.
  8. Calls for support for sustainable maritime transport, including ferries using carbon-neutral fuels and electric/hybrid ferries, and for a regulatory measure on mutual recognition of boating licences.
  9. Calls for increased investment in rail infrastructure, including cross-border and secondary networks, and for simplified ticketing and integrated booking systems.
  10. Calls for a coherent 'Destination Europe' framework and for the establishment of a dedicated directorate-general for sustainable tourism within the Commission.
  11. Calls for a new EU framework for short-term rentals, distinguishing commercial and non-commercial hosts, and for robust enforcement mechanisms to ensure only compliant listings on platforms.
  12. Calls for a coordinated EU-wide agenda to upskill and reskill the tourism workforce, including a tourism skills card, and for better recognition of soft skills and physical work.

Who is affected

  • Tourism businesses, including SMEs and family-run enterprises, will be affected by calls for new regulations on short-term rentals and sustainability labelling.
  • Remote, outermost, rural, peripheral, sparsely populated and insular regions are targeted for improved connectivity and tailored support.
  • Workers in tourism, especially women and seasonal workers, are targeted for improved working conditions and training opportunities.
  • Cultural workers and volunteers are recognised and called for support, including a passion-to-profession scheme.

Figures and deadlines

  • Tourism directly accounts for approximately 5% of the EU's GDP, rising to roughly 10% with indirect impacts.
  • 90% of the EU's tourism sector is made up of SMEs, including some 2.3 million SMEs employing approximately 12.3 million people.
  • 80% of travellers visit only 10% of global destinations.
  • Rail represents only around 10% of journeys, far behind road (64%) and air (17%).
  • Approximately 25% of Europeans live with disabilities or reduced mobility; the proportion of EU population aged 60+ is projected to rise from 21% to 30% by 2030.
  • 92% of SMEs in tourism struggle to hire skilled staff.
  • Approximately 48 million European boaters could benefit from mutual recognition of boating licences.

Legal basis: Articles 174, 195 and 349 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union