Back in 2011, Portugal as other Member States, struggled to lift itself and its economy out of the swamp it had fallen into by the establishment of an adjustment programme to restore market confidence. If you all remember, the turning point was the increasing of international Tourism, the driving force for Portuguese economy to be back on track.
The latest economic forecast presented this spring by the European Commission also brings good news. Due to a couple of factors, the EU economy is expanding and set to continue growing moderately. The revised economic growth forecast for Portugal in 2023 is due to a strong performance in tourism. History repeats itself.
Tourism resilience to bounce back in many destinations close to or even above pre-pandemic levels, is not by miracle. Excess savings during the pandemic likely extended the summer season as travellers were eager to get out and travel after 3 years of Covid-19 lockdowns but also destinations, regions as the entire ecosystem have worked hard for overcoming the temporary paralysis caused by the pandemic and related travel restrictions.
However, the challenges remain ranging from geopolitical insecurity, spiralling inflation, the war in Ukraine and consequent skyrocketing energy prices and staffing shortages. Looking forward, international travel to Europe is forecast to reach pre-pandemic levels in 2025, while domestic travel will fully recover in 2024. With this in prospect, public authorities hand in hand with the tourism ecosystem must ensure that tourism will be part of the solution to achieve climate goals and to be a driving force of smart and responsible development.
In the Tourism Task Force at the European Parliament, I have fought to create several measures or drivers related with climate goals, studies on the new climate policies in the transport and tourism sectors, mobility poverty, training of the tourism workforce among other key factors that can also help boost different European economies in the near future.
On one hand, we have asked the Commission for introducing a scoreboard for tracking and reporting on the impact of tourism. Having common metrics on the entire EU ecosystem will help policymakers at national and regional level to understand, guide and define how tourism is decoupling from its greenhouse gas emissions. With this tool will be possible to improve access to indicators and statistics relevant to tourism, particularly by helping tourist destinations and public authorities monitor the progress they have made in the ecological and digital transition. On the other hand, on training and education we have proposed the creation of a Tourism Academia. An online platform available in Union’s 24 official languages with the aim of reskilling and upskilling tourism workforce.
International tourism is well on its way to returning to pre-pandemic levels but this does not mean that the Union, in particular the European Commission, should not support the ecosystem by delivering concrete actions. This includes answering and overcome common challenges that the EU’s Tourist destinations are or will face in the future. All this will need financial support that is why it is never enough to struggle for a future budgetary line specific for the sector.
The EU has an opportunity to capitalise on the potential of tourism in promoting socio-economic growth. The European Tourism Agenda for 2030 and the Transition Pathway for Tourism cannot remain a simple set of intentions. There is no other time to grab this opportunity.
