Opinion of the Committee of the Regions on "the Communication from the Commission to the Council, the European Parliament, the Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions - Enhancing Tourism's Potential for Employment"

(2000/C 317/14)

THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS,

having regard to the Communication from the Commission to the Council, the European Parliament, the Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions - Enhancing Tourism's Potential for Employment: Follow-up to the conclusions and recommendations of the High Level Group on Tourism and Employment (COM(1999) 205 final);

having regard to the decision taken by the Bureau on 15 September 1999, under the fifth paragraph of Article 265 of the Treaty establishing the European Community, to draw up an own-initiative opinion on this subject;

having regard to the draft opinion (CdR 291/99 rev. 3) adopted by Commission 5 on 18 April 2000 (rapporteur: Mr Lazaridis);

having regard to the Commission 6 Working Document on Enhancing tourism's potential for employment (rapporteur: Mr Abel),

adopted the following opinion at its 34th plenary session held on 14 and 15 June 2000 (meeting of 15 June).

1. Introduction

1.1. International tourism is very much like an export industry. It is not restricted to the limited home market in products and services as manufacturing industry is in its early stages, catering as it does to an ever widening international market. At the same time it is easier in principle for a developing country with the necessary comparative advantages to be competitive in providing tourist services than in producing and exporting manufactured products for the following reasons:

- tourist services differ from place to place and are unique to one place;

- a smaller amount of initial private capital is usually required to set up a tourist enterprise;

- tourist enterprises take a shorter time to come into profit.

One advantage of tourism is that consumption takes place on the spot, thereby also generating positive economic spin-off effects for businesses and firms which are not directly tourism-related; it also often helps to maintain and/or improve the level of services available to the local inhabitants.

1.2. The Committee of the Regions is pleased to note that the Commission recognises and focuses attention on tourism's major potential for employment and the need to incorporate tourist aspects into other Community policies, as indeed the High Level Group on tourism and employment underlines in its conclusions and recommendations. At the same time the Committee feels that it is important to stress that a regional approach is most effective in developing tourism. Wide variations in natural and cultural environments, employment and business structures and potential for developing tourism throughout the Community generate natural competition between the Member States, as well as between regions.

1.3. The Committee endorses the Commission's strategy, which focuses on:

a) acknowledging the importance of the tourist industry and integrating the relevant EU policies in order to make it easier to put tourist issues on the agenda and promote modernisation of tourism-related services and the development of a new entrepreneurial culture;

b) building on information and best-practice with a view to achieving: better knowledge and know-how, access to more detailed information and to relevant Community programmes, and fuller information on development initiatives and on legislative measures in the Member States with potential implications for the tourism industry.

1.4. The Committee agrees that a multi-annual tourism programme should concentrate on coordinating and disseminating information and best-practice, developing user-friendly information tools for tourism programmes and initiatives and establishing a procedure for consultation and cooperation between public authorities and the tourism sector. In the Committee's view (see its opinion on The role of local and regional authorities in tourism development and the impact of European Union measures in the sphere of tourism - CdR 157/98 fin)(1), the local and regional authorities should be given the responsibility of guaranteeing sustainable use of resources under a multi-annual tourism programme.

1.5. The COR fundamentally supports the idea of setting up a European Tourism Board, comprising representatives of key players and major decision-makers, which can advise the Commission. However, there must be further clarification to specify what the responsibilities and composition of this Board will be. The Committee considers it essential for the Board to reflect local and regional interests.

1.6. However, according to Eurostat figures the volume of tourist traffic is much larger in the more developed regions than in the "traditional" tourist areas. This is obviously because variations in quality of life between different places and the fact that tourism is not associated just with holidays but also with other factors are crucial determinants of tourist traffic.

1.7. Thus statistics show the United Kingdom in first place, with 414 million visitors, followed by Germany with 314 million and Austria with 92 million, whereas the southern European countries (excluding France), despite being traditional tourist destinations, together account for only 15 % of total tourist arrivals in Europe. Employment in the tourism sector more or less follows this pattern.

1.8. It is also very interesting to compare the contribution of tourism to the southern European countries' exports with the Community average, which is about 10 %. This is 45 % for Greece, 30 % for Spain, 26 % for Portugal and 14 % for Italy, showing how important tourism is for the countries of southern Europe. In the countries of northern Europe, tourism is generally of lesser economic importance but in ailing regions, such as island regions and the traditional seaside resort areas, a boost in tourism can help in fostering economic growth and job creation. Although the southern European countries have far fewer visitors, their economies, and thus employment, are heavily dependent on tourism. It is interesting to note that over 90 % of the tourist industry is made up of SMEs. We need to mention the report of the Committee on Regional Policy, Transport and Tourism of the European Parliament (rapporteur Mr Viceconte), which observes that tourism requires substantial investment in structures, infrastructures, entrepreneurship, professional expertise, social services and training. These factors are essential in order to improve quality of life in regions that receive tourists; they are factors that the more developed regions already have and which are part of their systems, whereas the poorer regions cannot provide them for the sole use of tourists.

1.9. It follows from the above that any programme designed to promote tourism must help Member States and local authorities to improve structures, infrastructures, professional expertise, training and social services, and support SMEs involved in tourism. The instruments that can be used to achieve this already exist in the form of measures and policies under the Structural Funds and the Cohesion Fund, with a budget of EUR 4,7 billion for the period 1994-1999.

1.10. The High Level Group on Tourism concluded that "tourism-related activities already account for a significant proportion and a varied range of jobs in Europe, and have a clear potential as job creators (it is forecast that from the existing level of 9 million jobs, tourism can create between 2,2 and 3,3 million extra jobs by 2010 based on an annual growth rate of 1,0-1,5 %)." The 2 million or so businesses, most of them SMEs, operating in the tourism sector account for 6 % of total EU employment and 30 % of total trade in services. Tourism is considered to be a crucial source of foreign exchange since provision of tourist services brings foreign currency into developing economies.

1.11. Tourism is a highly labour-intensive industry which makes the prospect of developing it all the more attractive. In developed regions it serves to mop up the surplus of the workforce, with a high concentration of labour and technology (the "quaternary" sector). In regions where the object is to ensure high rates of economic growth, large-scale tourism development has the advantage of attracting much higher-income tourists. In agricultural and underdeveloped regions, tourism provides a focus of employment, absorbing mainly local labour. In the latter case, where the object is to reduce or eradicate regional disparities, tourism is developed on a small scale so that it blends into the environment making optimum use of local resources and the local workforce.

1.12. The dynamic growth of international tourism seen over the last thirty years is undisputedly impressive by any standards. Indeed, it is estimated that foreign exchange earnings from tourism have exceeded export earnings internationally for most of this period, with international tourism making up the largest proportion of international trade. The important role of tourism for economic development can be summarized in the following factors:

1) its stabilising effect on the balance of payments;

2) generation of revenue;

3) job creation;

4) vertical and horizontal interaction with other sectors and industries, thereby making a significant contribution to the development of industries producing intermediate products;

5) regional development.

1.13. During the period 1988-1997 the Community's share of tourist arrivals to the whole of Europe fell from 74 % to 68,7 %, and its share of revenues from tourism fell from 82,9 % to 76,7 %. Eleven Member States were among the top 20 world tourist destinations in 1997 in terms of number of visitors, and twelve Member States were among the top revenue-earners. Twelve Member States are also among the 20 countries with the highest expenditure on tourism. Europe is both a huge source market and a huge destination market for tourism.

1.14. It is particularly relevant here to mention the recent forecast of the World Tourism Organisation that international tourism will triple over the next 20 years. The huge significance of this forecast for Europe and for the local economy, and especially employment, is obvious.

1.15. The tourism sector is heavily influenced by demographic change, the social situation of workers and more general economic development and the increase in consumer purchasing power.

1.16. This activity is not limited to particular geographical areas now that alternative forms of tourism are becoming popular, such as farm holidays, rural tourism, conventions and ecological tourism. This enables declining regions to join in the economy on a competitive basis and to gain social and economic recognition.

2. Challenges and future outlook for European tourism

2.1. The tourists of tomorrow can be expected to insist increasingly on quality (infrastructure, transport, accommodation, services etc.) and on tourist destinations offering a wide variety of attractions, with a distinctive character. Implementing quality control techniques and establishing quality criteria for the provision of tourist services, something which in the past was not taken into account because, in many areas, mass tourism was based on cost-cutting to the detriment of service quality. The demand for more environment-friendly development of tourist areas has increased sharply in recent years. If all these requirements are to be met, targeted development is necessary. One prerequisite is a favourable investment climate guaranteeing continuous development of new technology and infrastructure and qualitative improvement of accommodation, holiday centres, entertainments, etc. Upgrading of the existing workforce's skills and training courses tailored to tourism and its special needs are another requirement. Finally, with the different conditions prevailing in the various areas of the Community, public authorities must join forces with the tourism industry and other interested parties in finding ways to protect the physical, cultural and socio-economic environments (e.g. traditional, high-quality products of agriculture, livestock and other sectors) of local and regional areas while at the same time exploiting their distinctive potential in a sustainable manner.

2.2. The operating environment for tourism companies needs to be improved and upgraded, especially in the case of SMEs, which need to have access to organized research, forecasting and adaptability systems to respond to the continually changing requirements of tourist markets. The Committee shares the Commission's view that the impact of tourism on employment and its overall economic impact have seldom been investigated in detail. For the tourism industry to receive due recognition, it is essential to analyse this impact and elucidate it in greater detail. A study of this kind must also be regarded as a prerequisite for targeted measures to develop the sector. Surveys and assessments of tourism's importance at both national and regional level are needed. The findings can serve as guide for both public and private investments and measures. The Committee calls on the Commission to support the framing of an economic model designed to assess tourism's volume of business and added value contribution, including the overall effects in terms of job creation. A model of this kind can be a valuable tool in developing regional tourism besides establishing a basis for benchmarking between regions.

2.3. Cooperation between the private and public sectors should be stepped up. It is the private sector which provides jobs thanks to the investments and activities which are the driving force behind tourism, while public authorities have the power to determine the operating framework and requirements for businesses.

2.4. The Commission's Communication makes it clear that tourism activities are closely interlinked - in very few cases can a single firm provide the product experienced by the tourist. Usually a whole range of firms arrange travel, offer transport, catering, overnight accommodation and amusements. Local and regional authorities form a key link in this chain since they are the ones to provide the requisite framework in the shape of infrastructure, spatial planning, training courses, business policy, tax systems, etc.

2.5. Cooperation procedures with representatives of the tourist industry and the social partners to enhance the efficiency and competitiveness of European tourism to meet the challenge from destinations outside Europe's geographical borders.

2.6. Reducing the charges and taxes on the provision of tourist services and products to make them more attractive, to allow the utilisation of local manpower and to encourage certain companies to move out of the black economy.

2.7. Marketing of tourist products and services needs to be targeted and the sale of package holidays outside peak periods promoted. If the growth potential of European tourism is to be exploited, the workforce needs to be trained and entrepreneurs offered advice on the operation and development of tourist businesses. However, it is also important that the effects of seasonality are overcome and tourism growth achieved through the diversification and expansion of the tourism product in an area. Local and regional authorities have an important role in supporting this development.

2.8. In implementing policy reforms in many important sectors (through Agenda 2000), such as the Structural Funds, the Cohesion Fund and the CAP (Rural Development Regulation), the COR should encourage the Commission and the Member States to develop appropriate measures under new programmes to raise low wage levels and promote the creation of high-quality tourism employment as a fundamental part of injecting new impetus and objectives into rural, urban and traditional seaside resort communities. The COR also calls upon the Commission and the Member States to take steps to boost emerging products which display significant growth potential, such as water-, spa-, culture- and conference-based, as well as rural, tourism.

2.9. Introducing the euro (which will bring price transparency and savings for tourists), liberalising transport, creating effective transport and telecommunications infrastructure and applying and expanding the use of new technologies.

2.10. In many regions, the cultural heritage may be the sole attraction for tourists. By maintaining and enriching it, as well as incorporating it into town planning, the potential for tourism is enhanced, making the region competitive and creating jobs.

2.11. Maintaining and introducing measures and monitoring to preserve the natural environment as well as cultural and biological diversity, which helps to make Europe's tourist areas more competitive in comparison to long-haul destinations and meets tourists' expectations, as well as reducing or eradicating the detrimental effects of tourism on resorts. The greater the care taken in developing sustainable tourism, the greater and longer-lasting will be the potential for job creation and the more general benefits arising from the competitiveness of European tourist areas.

2.12. Lastly, the special Framework Programme on the Information Society has bridged the knowledge gap in the tourism sector at European level. The provision of integrated information serves the needs of consumers, on the one hand, offering them complete advance information about possible destinations without the need to consult third parties, thereby minimising the "surprises" which tourists can get once they arrive at their destination. On the other hand, it serves the tourist industry, enabling it by means of the Internet to increase its competitiveness and to acquire the necessary know-how and expertise for today's needs. In addition, Information Society technology involves investment and equipment which will lead to the creation of new and better jobs in specialized training, higher profits and opportunities to exploit local markets.

2.13. The COR believes that priority should be given to the tourism industry when granting aid to the applicant countries, e.g. under the Phare and Interreg programmes. There is already keen interest in visits to these countries, both within and outside Europe. In order to fully exploit this interest and ensure the most positive results in job terms, it is essential that the applicant countries be incorporated into existing networks and forms of cooperation between the Member States, and a strong tourism sector must be developed throughout the whole of Europe. It is also important to try and develop a form of sustainable tourism that respects countries' specific features and preserves the valuable cultural assets that might otherwise be at risk.

3. Job creation potential of tourism

3.1. The Commission in particular draws attention to tourism's potential as regards the four key elements of the EU employment strategy: developing entrepreneurship, improving employability, encouraging adaptability, and strengthening equal opportunities between men and women. Without a doubt tourism will therefore be an ideal partner in the job creation drive.

3.2. Briefly, tourism generates three types of employment:

1) directly visible jobs providing services or selling to tourists. Overnight accommodation, entertainment, transport and catering are typical examples;

2) indirect employment, usually jobs in firms which supply the primary tourist enterprises directly or indirectly. That can include farmers supplying the dairy which supplies milk to the shop where the tourist buys as well as other producers of tourists' purchases (or components of them);

3) ancillary jobs, resulting from consumption by people using their earnings from tourism.

3.3. Both indirect and ancillary employment are hard to assess because of their lack of transparency. However, it is clear that any expansion in tourism will have a positive impact on all three forms of employment.

3.4. Tourism provides flexible forms of employment (part-time, seasonal work, etc.) which helps to create equal opportunities and offers jobs to women and young people, among others. In addition tourism is an industry which lends itself to the assimilation of a number of people who have traditionally been relegated to the sidelines of the labour market and who, for instance, because of their poor educational background or inadequate knowledge of the national language or as a result of the decline of other economic sectors, such as agriculture, have frequently found it hard to find steady employment. By upgrading their skills - and because of the special nature of the tourism industry - some of these people's other resources and strong points can be highly relevant in this particular sector. Family-run holdings, especially in upland and outlying areas, will have greater possibilities of strengthening their position with the overall increase in earnings generated by farm workers multi-jobbing in farming and tourism activities. Lastly, it is worth recalling that tourism creates jobs, not only in the sectors immediately linked with it, but also in complementary sectors, e.g. in the public sector.

3.5. Educating and training workers in all tourism-related industries will have the effect of upgrading the professional profile and improving efficiency to meet tourists' expectations and the needs of the tourism industry. For this to be effective, there must be mutual recognition of professional qualifications within the EU, including the establishment of a Europass training passport to ensure worker mobility.

3.6. Employment and working conditions must be created that make jobs and career prospects in tourism more attractive - such as social security, protection of workers, legal working hours - by retaining skilled staff, ensuring permanent employment even in the low season, either by providing training and information seminars or by transferring staff to other areas which offer alternative forms of tourism, thereby mitigating the seasonal nature of tourism.

3.7. Regional and local authorities are best equipped to take responsibility for training since the individual tourist businesses lack the requisite expertise or resources. Given their know-how of future needs in this sector, regional authorities can help to organise courses which also provide the workforce with a broader knowledge of languages, environment conservation and a general overview of the region's typical features, which can also be relevant in other types of employment.

3.8. The sharp oscillation in work load in this sector calls for experimentation with flexible forms of training, such as distance learning. The industry as a whole will benefit if the EU regions exchange their experiences in this sphere.

4. The role of local and regional authorities

Through training of the workforce, land-use planning, infrastructure planning and measures to promote business, local and regional authorities can create the right conditions for tourism and professionalise tourist services provided in the various regions.

4.1. In terms of what it offers, tourism has two forms, products and services, and is by its very nature dependent on human resources and local factors. Local and regional authorities are most directly involved since they:

a) can have an overview of the potential and prospects of the local tourist industry and can determine the scale of tourism development because it is in direct contact with both the operators and the end users of tourist demand;

b) can incorporate in development planning at all levels the tourism sector's needs in the shape of infrastructure, incentives and strategies for linking up locally the various socio-economic and cultural facets instrumental in the development of tourism;

c) can match supply and demand in the tourism sector by running information offices for the unemployed, local operators and tourism companies, in the framework of ongoing dialogue between the public and private sectors;

d) can themselves create jobs and training opportunities within municipal enterprises;

e) can determine the type and scale of tourism development at local and regional level. They have a good knowledge of the geophysical and cultural factors and the specific characteristics of the locality, which are vital in determining the type of tourism which can be developed in a particular area, placing the emphasis on alternative forms of tourism which best utilise the specific qualities of each locality. They can determine the scale of development, opting for low-impact tourism based more on local resources and production factors which is interwoven to a much larger extent with the local economy, thus contributing to the overall economic development of the locality. Or they may choose large-scale tourism development, which is suited to economically developed areas with the necessary facilities and manpower.

4.2. To make tourism as a whole competitive it is essential that the various players establish networks to develop competence and skills. Public authorities can help to develop and maintain products on a long-term and sustainable basis. For example, this can be achieved through cooperation at regional level, with local authorities and the tourist industry jointly promoting the region's assets. This cooperation could also encourage ongoing dialogue between the public and private sectors, e.g. on future need for training places, and could serve as a type of "one-stop shop" for a region.

5. Proposals

The Committee of the Regions recommends that the European Commission:

5.1. support an information network catering for both consumers and businesses involved in tourism;

5.2. establish quality standards and verification methods in the sectors of infrastructure, staff training and services to improve the transparency and attractiveness of tourism products and services throughout the EU: this would make the product clear and specific to the consumer, and attractive in terms of international competition. In doing so, the COR urges the European Commission to take account of the current situation in each of the Member States, paying specific regard to micro and small businesses, so as not to jeopardise employment and competitiveness;

5.3. incorporate the principles of sustainable development and environmental impact assessment into Community tourism measures so that the integrated approach covers the long-term sustainable evolution of tourism, quality, benefits for the local labour force and local population, and the preservation of the natural and cultural heritage. It is hoped that current trends in energy policy will be taken up in tourism infrastructure so that buildings are constructed and run ecologically, making rational use of renewable energy sources (as provided for in the White Paper on this subject). Environmental impact studies concerning installations or activities must also guard against their possible incompatibility with the tourist potential of the natural areas affected;

5.4. encourage innovative tourism enterprises to strengthen new areas and forms of tourism to foster modern methods of strategic management;

5.5. frame a European strategy to upgrade the qualifications of workers in the tourism sector with coherent and responsible partnerships between international tourism enterprises, education and training bodies and public authorities, combined with an information mechanism to ensure a balance between supply and demand, free movement of the workforce and transparency in the tourist market. Diplomas from tourism studies should receive formal international recognition;

5.6. draw up a framework strategy to incorporate the above, provide political recognition of the role and potential of tourism for employment and coordination of all Community measures and policies affecting tourism, tackling the weak points and playing up the advantages;

5.7. implement a multiannual European programme for tourism to improve integration of measures relating to tourism into the Structural Funds and the Cohesion Fund, and directly specifying the criteria for Community assistance for tourism, including;

- giving financial assistance for setting up regional networks and exchanges of experience about best-practice between regions, so that viable measures tested in certain regions can be applied throughout the Community;

- providing financial assistance to further develop a model for clarifying and analysing the economic and job creation implications of tourism at national and regional level;

- providing financial assistance for developing and applying information technology in the tourism sector, which should include setting up joint reservation systems and increased use of both the Internet and intranets, so as to make customer service more effective and increase market transparency.

5.8. In the Committee's view, the tourism industry should receive priority treatment when aid is channelled to the applicant countries via the Phare and Interreg programmes. Keen interest in visits to these countries is already being displayed, both in and outside Europe. If this interest is to be exploited to best effect and to have maximum impact on employment, the applicant countries must be brought into existing networks and alliances between the Member States and targeted efforts must be made to ensure the development of a strong tourism sector in all areas of Europe. Here existing tourism contacts and networking, especially between the Nordic countries/regions and the applicant countries/regions in the Baltic area can usefully be expanded and serve as models. It is also important to pursue sustainable tourism which respects the individual Member States' typical features and, most important, preserves the valuable cultural assets which could otherwise be at risk. Similarly, consideration must be given to environmental factors when developing the tourism industry in these countries.

With this in mind, the Commission should propose:

5.9. substantive and more extensive consultation of, and cooperation between, interested parties (tour operators, travel agencies, transport operators and public authorities at national, regional and local level) with a view to better and more competitive European tourism.

The Committee calls on the Member States to:

5.10. ensure, in their national Structural Fund programmes, that funds are earmarked to support the tourism industry, including the development of flexible training courses recognised in the other Member States;

5.11. include tourism as a key component in the NAP national employment strategies so that every advantage is taken of the tourism industry's full job creation potential;

5.12. shoulder their responsibility for fostering conditions conducive to the tourism sector since that is one of the key parameters for the competitiveness of the industry as a whole.

In addition, the Committee would urge the regional and local authorities to give attention to the following:

5.13. The local and regional authorities bear particular responsibility for cooperating with the industry and should provide qualified advice to firms and support for the building up of networks. Most tourism-related enterprises work in a local/regional context and therefore have natural contacts with authorities in the area, which is an excellent starting point for dialogue. In certain situations a link can be established between the authorities' insistence on sustainability and the industry's own development needs, thereby ensuring long-term competitiveness. Local and regional authorities should take steps to improve the monitoring of working and training conditions in tourism-related enterprises, in order to reduce disparities between Member States.

5.14. The local and regional authorities should join with the tourism industry and the social partners to offer specifically targeted training within the tourism sector while at the same time testing flexible arrangements (e.g. modular systems and combinations of theoretical and practical training) so as to satisfy the industry's particular requirements as fully as possible.

Brussels, 15 June 2000.

The President

of the Committee of the Regions

Jos Chabert

(1) OJ C 293, 13.10.1999, p. 33.