Changes from report parliamentary committee draft to plenary report

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AddedEXPLANATORY STATEMENT

AddedEncompassing transport, travel services, hospitality, culture, sport and entertainment, the tourism ecosystem thrives only when these diverse threads are woven into a coordinated whole.As a global leader in tourism, contributing around 10 % of the EU economy, Europe must now lead the transition towards a more sustainable and balanced model that directly addresses growing social and environmental pressures, safeguards Europe’s heritage and keeps communities and visitors in balance.

AddedGiven its strategic importance, tourism needs a coherent EU strategy and targeted investment to stay competitive. This, in turn, calls for stronger coordination, including a dedicated directorate-general to strengthen governance and resource management. As a step to this direction, your Rapporteur welcomes the Commission’s forthcoming EU sustainable tourism strategy, which can provide a shared framework for a more sustainable, innovative and inclusive tourism model. The strategy should look beyond tourism’s economic role and underscore its role in social cohesion, shared prosperity and balanced territorial development, strengthened by connectivity, empowered destinations, and a skilled, culturally engaged workforce.

AddedEnhanced connectivity

AddedTransport connectivity powers every tourism experience, linking people to places, cultures and stories. Strong, efficient networks keep the sector sustainable and competitive by spreading visitor flows, relieving hotspots and boosting regional growth. But many potential destinations remain off the grid, and closing these gaps will require targeted support, robust infrastructure and dependable services to ensure tourism grows without shutting out local communities. Your Rapporteur therefore argues that the EU and its Member States must treat accessible, affordable and reliable transport as an essential service, underpinned by clear benchmarks for accessibility, affordability and quality – especially in remote, rural, island and outermost regions. Such services should not only guarantee residents’ mobility but also strengthen community connectivity, social inclusion and access to tourism destinations. Where existing measures fail to overcome persistent structural disadvantages, your Rapporteur calls on the Commission to develop additional tools to support citizens and businesses in peripheral, island and outermost regions, safeguarding their long-term viability and cohesion. In addition, your Rapporteur highlights the role of eco-taxes in financing projects that support both communities and the environment. Successful schemes already in place should be assessed as potential best practices, helping steer investment and promote balanced territorial development and shared prosperity.

AddedEmpowering Europe’s destinations

AddedUnbalanced tourism can strain destinations, erode community life and dull Europe’s cultural and environmental edge, whereas well-planned tourism can do the opposite, strengthening social cohesion, protecting heritage and generating quality jobs. For this reason, your Rapporteur considers that, as part of the EU’s industrial strategy, tourism requires effective governance to better distribute demand between established and emerging destinations. Accordingly, the Commission and the Member States are encouraged to promote off-season travel and to boost the diversification and visibility of less frequented destinations through data-driven planning and targeted awareness-raising, helping to preserve Europe’s position as a leading global destination.

AddedAt the same time, your Rapporteur underscores the strategic role of DMOs, whose local presence enables strong partnerships across the tourism ecosystem. This makes structured, multi-level governance essential, bringing together local and regional authorities, DMOs and private stakeholders to shape coherent and inclusive tourism strategies. Because many small and rural destinations lack the administrative and analytical capacity to shape sustainable tourism strategies, targeted EU support is needed to build their management capabilities. Member States should therefore reinforce DMOs through financial support, technical know-how, improved coordination and workforce upskilling, enabling them to manage destinations effectively and with a long-term vision.

AddedYour Rapporteur welcomes the new Regulation on short-term accommodation rentals as a meaningful advance in destination management. Nonetheless, the unchecked rise of such rentals continues to undermine housing affordability, weaken social cohesion and place pressure on essential urban services. As tourism must be built on the sustainable co-existence of residents and visitors, the Commission is urged to put forward legislation empowering public authorities to effectively regulate short-term rental activity. This should include a clear differentiation between commercial and non-commercial hosts, enabling targeted, proportionate and locally tailored management of short-term rental supply. The regulation should be accompanied by robust mechanisms to ensure that digital platforms effectively support the enforcement of national or local rules, including the application of night caps or other measures such as noise-mitigation.

AddedAcknowledging the limitations of the EU’s Ecolabel, in particular its limited market uptake, your Rapporteur urges a more unified approach to sustainability labelling for European tourism, which is SMEfriendly and designed to strengthen sustainability, consumer trust and Europe’s global competitiveness. In a similar vein, the Commission and the Member States should support tourism’s transition to a circular-economy model, including by aligning sustainability labelling with circular economy principles, promoting measures that improve water, energy and waste-management efficiency, curb overconsumption, protect habitats and biodiversity, and reduce the environmental footprint of tourism through data-driven decision-making. Furthermore, the Commission should assess how the Single-Use Plastics Directive applies to tourism and hospitality, identify remaining gaps and propose measures to close them. This includes offering support and incentives to speed up the phaseout of singleuse plastics, based on solid evidence, stakeholder consultation and a realistic transition timeline, without imposing undue costs on small businesses. Finally, your Rapporteur calls for comprehensive metrics on quality employment, community wellbeing, resource efficiency, environmental impacts and carbon emissions, developed using globally recognised methodologies. These would support transparent policymaking, guide responsible investment and ensure comparability.

AddedBringing the considerations above together, your Rapporteur stresses that meaningful progress depends on clear funding mechanisms capable of supporting the transition to sustainable tourism models. While the next MFF’s proposals to strengthen EU support for sustainable, competitive and resilient tourism – particularly through the NRPPs Regulation and the European Competitiveness Fund – are welcome, it is regrettable that the new MFF once again omits a dedicated EU programme and standalone budget line for sustainable tourism.

AddedSkills and cultural engagement

AddedCulture and heritage, woven deeply into our daily lives, form the very essence of Europe’s tourism appeal and of our national and shared European identities. This living fabric – shaped by sustainable traditions, archaeological treasures and local languages – embodies the continuity of communities and the richness of regional identity. Preserving it depends on managing visitor flows responsibly and ensuring that local communities remain at the heart of decision-making. Digital tools such as interactive maps, augmented reality and community platforms can broaden access to heritage, strengthen small businesses and elevate the visitor experience.

AddedIn this context, your Rapporteur highlights the indispensable role of professional cultural workers, local organisations and volunteers as guardians of Europe’s cultural heritage. Through conservation, site stewardship and public engagement, they help sustain the uniqueness and attractiveness of Europe as a tourism destination. In recognition of the extraordinary commitment of volunteers who invest their personal time in protecting Europe’s cultural heritage, the Commission, together with the Member States, is encouraged to propose guidelines that enable cultural volunteering, including measures that lower barriers to participation and strengthen the recognition of cultural volunteers throughout the Union.

AddedEurope’s tourism economy rests on the strength of a skilled and respected workforce. Yet this foundation is increasingly strained: low wages in parts of the sector, informal and part-time work, difficult conditions, seasonality and limited training continue to fuel labour and skills shortages. These pressures are compounded by persistent gender inequality, with women – who form the majority of the workforce – still disproportionately represented in low-paid and precarious roles. To address these structural weaknesses, your Rapporteur calls for a tourism labour market grounded in quality jobs, fair pay, robust social protection and year-round continuity, supported by paid training accessible to all workers, including seasonal staff during the off-season. Building on this approach, your Rapporteur proposes the introduction of a European tourism skills card, developed together with social partners and recognised across borders and sectors, to provide a trusted record of accredited training, competencies, qualifications, and professional experience. Such an initiative is essential for cultivating an adaptable workforce equipped with digital and green skills is essential to deliver innovative solutions that reconcile economic growth with environmental stewardship. At the same time, upskilling and reskilling must be matched by a genuine appreciation of every role – from the human-centred interactions that define quality service to the physically demanding tasks that keep tourism running – so that none of these strengths are lost as the sector embraces new approaches and innovations.