On Wednesday, 4 November, European Commissioner for Sustainable Transport and Tourism Apostolos Tzitzikostas presented the EU’s first common tourism strategy, structured around three pillars: competitiveness, sustainability and resilience, and international cooperation. One of its main objectives is to ensure that local communities benefit from tourism.
To this end, the strategy focuses on supporting small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), better managing seasonality and visitor overcrowding (currently, just 13% of European regions account for 50% of all overnight stays), and promoting greener transport and accessible travel.
Across the EU, the tourism sector employs more than 20 million people and comprises approximately 5 million businesses, 99% of which are SMEs.
Initiatives planned for 2027 include the establishment of a European Tourism Academy (to provide training and develop skills), a Tourism Observatory (to analyse trends and inform public policy), and a Crisis Coordination Network.
The EU is the world’s leading tourist destination. In 2025, it welcomed nearly 600 million international tourists, accounting for almost 40% of international tourist arrivals worldwide.
Tourism accounts for approximately 10% of the EU’s GDP, while in countries such as Greece, its direct and indirect contribution reaches up to 25% of GDP, Tzitzikostas noted.
Sources: European Commission, Euronews
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