Opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee on "Socially sustainable tourism for everyone"
Date: 2003-01-22
Institutions: European Economic and Social Committee
Subjects: ESC opinion, sustainable development, tourism, tourism policy

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II

(Preparatory Acts)

ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE

403rd PLENARY SESSION, 29 AND 30 OCTOBER 2003

Opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee on ‘Socially sustainable tourism for
everyone’

(2004/C 32/01)

On 23 January 2003 the European Economic and Social Committee, acting under the second paragraph
of Rule 29 of its Rules of Procedure, decided to draw up an opinion on ‘Socially sustainable tourism for
everyone’.

The Section for the Single Market, Production and Consumption, which was responsible for preparing
the Committee’s work on the subject, adopted its opinion on 7 October 2003. The rapporteur was
Mr Mendoza.

At its 403rd plenary session of 29 and 30 October 2003 (meeting of 29 October), the European
Economic and Social Committee adopted the following opinion by 112 votes to two with one abstention.

PART ONE: GENERAL ASPECTS

1.

Introduction

1.1.
Tourism is widely recognised around the world — and
especially by the European Union and its institutions — as an
area of economic activity of strategic importance in achieving
a range of objectives which lie at the very heart of the EU’s
existence, its policies, and its desire to create a better Europe
for present and future generations. Developing tourism has a
direct impact on economic, social and environmental con-
ditions; consequently, it can and must be an important means
of enhancing European citizens’ quality of life and must be
used as such. However, in order to ensure that this potential is
effectively harnessed in the longer term, tourism must meet
sustainability requirements which all the players involved —
public and private bodies, businesses and users — must in
turn observe. New forms of tourism which are sustainable in
economic, social and environmental terms, and which all
parties seek, will be determined by this set of conditions.

‘to become the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-
based economy in the world, capable of sustainable economic
growth with more and better jobs and greater social cohesion’
— is generally recognised and must be emphasised.

1.2.1.
Against a new, less dynamic economic backdrop in
which fewer jobs are being created, the Brussels Council of 20
and 21 March 2003 sought to turn words into actions and
ensure that the Union and the Member States live up to their
undertakings — ‘we reaffirm our strong personal commitment
to the timely and effective delivery of reforms across the
three pillars of the Lisbon strategy — economic, social and
environmental’.

The Brussels Council established new priorities which,
in
practical terms, mean giving fresh impetus to entrepreneurship
and innovation and strengthening the internal market as a
means of enhancing competitiveness and placing it centre
stage both within the economy in general and tourism in
particular.

1.2.
The special contribution made by sustainable tourism
to achieving the strategic objective of the Lisbon summit —

1.3.
Special care must be taken in 2003, the European Year
of People with Disabilities, to realise the right of disabled
people to enjoy their leisure time and participate fully in
tourism. This implies changes in ways of thinking, information,

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awareness and management. The European Economic and
Social Committee’s modest contribution to the success of the
European Year and to making sustainable tourism open to all
will be to analyse these conditions and put forward relevant
initiatives.

It must also be remembered that for various social and
1.4.
economic reasons, tourism is still not accessible to all European
citizens. The range of intrinsic benefits of tourism to all
citizens — especially the young — should be taken into special
account by the institutions so that they can promote new
forms of tourism which are open to all and most of all
to those with lower purchasing power. Creating a larger,
ecologically aware, economically competitive and socially
cohesive Europe, in which all citizens enjoy a good quality of
life, requires resources, attention and appropriate supporting
policies.

2. Tourism as part of European policy

Tourism is widely agreed to be of great importance not
2.1.
only economically, but also socially and environmentally, in
the European Union and worldwide. Where tourism is already
well-developed, people count on it to continue being what it
has been in the past, a source of wealth creation, high
employment and a high quality of life, while people in less-
developed areas look to tourism as a potentially crucial means
of escaping from poverty, securing economic progress and
social development and meeting convergence objectives.

At the same time, tourism often has been, is and may
2.2.
in the future still be a source of economic, social and
environmental imbalances, in the longer term entailing risks
which may undermine its potential to generate well-being and
sustainable development.

2.3.
A number of paragraphs from the Commission Com-
munication on Working together for the future of European
tourism (1) merit
inclusion here, as they provide a clear
summary of the economic importance of tourism in the EU:

(1) COM(2001) 665 final, 13.11.2001.

‘The tourism industry in the European Union comprises
some two million businesses, mostly SMEs, which account
for about 5 % of both GDP and employment. This figure
varies from 3 % to 8 % depending on the Member State.
Tourism also generates a considerable amount of activity
in other sectors, such as the retail trade and specialised
equipment, to a level of around one and a half times that
of tourism itself.

In terms of turnover, over 80 % of the tourism undertaken
by Europeans concerns individuals or families. The remain-
in the broad sense. It varies,
der is business tourism,
depending on the country, from barely 15 % to over 30 %
of the total volume, the highest proportion relating to
Nordic Countries. EU households earmark around one
eighth of their personal expenditure for tourism-related
consumption, a figure which varies relatively little from
country to country.

Community tourism is largely domestic. 87 % of tourism
activity recorded is attributed to its own citizens with only
13 % to visitors from non-member countries. As for the
tourism of EU citizens, three-quarters remain within the
EU, the remaining quarter going to other parts of Europe
and the world.

Tourism is one of the sectors of the European economy
with the best outlook. Forecasts indicate a steady growth
of tourism in Europe, stronger than the average economic
growth. This is due to factors such as the increase in time
for leisure activities and its social importance, together
with global economic growth.

Over the past few years 100 000 jobs a year have been
created in Europe in the hotel and restaurant sectors alone.
Europe, with the greatest diversity and density of tourist
attractions, is the most visited tourist region in the world.
Despite having a lower growth rate than the world average
and than certain up-and-coming overseas destinations in
particular, the volume of European tourism is expected to
double over the next 20 to 25 years, with a net increase,
in terms of expenditure and yield, of around 3 % per year.
Employment will rise by about 15 % over the next ten
years.’

2.4.
Although tourism is not directly part of common EU
policy, a number of European institutions are engaged in
measures and actions which affect tourism because of their
horizontal nature, or which rely on tourism in order to
achieve a range of major EU objectives, including sustainable
development, employment, economic and social cohesion,
etc.:
in other words, a better quality of life for European
citizens.

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It is important to point out that the only reference to
2.4.1.
tourism in the EC Treaty, as consolidated at Nice, and following
the revision and expansion of certain protocols, is in Part One:
Principles, Article 3(u), which reads as follows:

‘For the purposes set out in Article 2, the activities of the
Community shall include, as provided in this Treaty and in
accordance with the timetable set out therein:

(...)

(u) measures in the sphere of energy, civil protection and

tourism.’

2.5.
Several Commission and Council documents have
attached importance to tourism as an instrument for generat-
ing employment, but it may readily be agreed that tourism
nevertheless has a very low profile among European policies
as a whole, and that it should perhaps be strengthened and
expanded in line with the universally accepted strategic
importance of tourism at present and, most probably, in the
future. A higher profile for tourism in the activities of the EU
and of its various institutions and, more clearly, the coordi-
nation of all Community policies affecting tourism have been
both called for and predicted. For this to happen, more and
better data on all aspects of tourism and the way it ties in with
other sectors must be available in the future, so that tourism’s
contribution to the quality of life and social cohesion can be
accurately evaluated in both economic and social terms.

The imminent entry of new countries into the Euro-
2.6.
pean Union requires that
the impact of enlargement on
tourism — in the existing fifteen and ten future Member States
— be taken into account. The Commission could look into
this aspect in close detail, and disseminate its findings and
conclusions as widely as possible.

organisation and development. A number of these factors and
their connections with tourism are identified with a view to
gaining a clearer picture both of the forms currently assumed
by tourism and of how it may in the future be designed to be
open to all and socially sustainable, as suggested in the title of
this opinion.

3.2.
Some of the numerous factors interacting with tourism
merit close attention, as they are of importance in ensuring
consistency of objectives. The Committee considers that ten
aspects are useful in identifying the ideal form most likely to
achieve this objective: tourists, employment, businesses, social
cohesion, stability, culture and heritage, accessibility to persons
with disabilities, the environment, peace and solidarity, and
the roles of the various players.

3.3.
Initiatives of varying types and involving different
parties responsible for implementation will be proposed for
each of these ten facets and their connections with tourism.
The aim is to encapsulate the spirit of the Brussels summit,
which called for the principles of sustainable development to
be put into practice. Given its strategic importance for the
European economy, tourism can perhaps be a pilot-project for
this aim; the initiatives set out in the second part of this
opinion are proposals whose conceptual scope can help
achieve the objective.

4. Tourism and sustainability

Careful attention should also focus on determining the
2.7.
future role of tourism in shaping the Europe which will emerge
from the European Convention. There must be initiatives to
ensure that tourism and tourism policy are given full recog-
nition in terms of their economic importance and capacity to
create employment, their potential contribution to culture and
mutual understanding among the peoples of the world, and as
a tool for creating a Citizens’ Europe.

4.1.
Thirty years after the expression sustainable develop-
ment was first used to describe the ideal development model,
it is a requirement for all human activities, whether economic
(the relationship between resources and products), social (the
relationship between individuals and groups) or environmental
(the relationship between mankind and nature).

3. Tourism

3.1.
Tourism is a highly complex phenomenon on account
of the wide variety of factors which determine its shape,

4.1.1.
The term came of age at the 1992 Rio summit, and
has since been taken on board by the entire international
community; the remaining ambiguity in how the concept is
formulated allows for some nuance in the way it is used.
The classic definition is the Brundtland one of ‘sustainable
development as satisfying present needs without compromis-
ing the ability of future generations to meet their own needs’.

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Sustainability does not mean easy solutions: it involves
4.2.
opposition between the different objectives which society may
set
itself, between economics and ecology, between the
present and the future, and between the local and the global.
Sustainability, then, entails not only technical solutions but
also values, priorities, ways of looking at problems, a fresh
approach to public and private policy: in short, switching to a
model which can imbue all aspects of human activity with
respect for, and balance between, various commitments.

It is axiomatic that economics are crucial to tourism.
4.4.1.
As indicated above, the tourist industry has proved to be a
powerful engine for generating employment and wealth
practically everywhere in the world, and in a particularly
intensive way in Europe, with a special concentration in
Mediterranean countries. Sustainability in relation to this factor
implies the need for a strategic, long-term rather than short-
or medium-term, vision. It means approaching tourist products
in terms of sustainable competitiveness which is environment-
friendly but at the same time capable of creating lasting, high-
quality and year-round jobs.

A number of EU institutions have taken up the
4.3.
philosophy of sustainability: the Treaty of Amsterdam, for
example, which came into force in 1999, makes sustainable
development one of the European Union’s main tasks. Article 2
of that Treaty stipulates that ‘The Union shall set itself the
(...) to promote economic and social
following objectives:
progress and a high level of employment and to achieve
balanced and sustainable development, in particular through
(...) the strengthening of economic and social cohesion’.

4.3.1.
A broad consensus exists on the two main ideas
which the concept of sustainable development must, as a
minimum, embrace:

— that development should possess an economic, a socio-
cultural and an environmental dimension. Development
will be sustainable only if it strikes a successful balance
between the different factors influencing the quality of
life;

— that the current generation has a duty toward future
generations to leave sufficient social, environmental and
economic resources for them to enjoy at least the same
level of well-being as itself.

4.3.2.
The triple reliance on the economic, social and
environmental aspects, which must represent both the limits
and connections constituting sustainable development, emerge
clearly and consistently.

its fundamental service-oriented nature
4.4.2.
Similarly,
means that social
factors relating to the operators and
individuals involved in tourism simultaneously can and must
be taken into account, so that they can not only offer a product
meeting uniform standards, but also transmit social, cultural
and human-contact values, celebrating the ability of different
peoples to share their traditions, culture, values and experience.
Tourism can and must be of significant assistance in the task
of completing the EU’s internal market. Active backing should
be given to completing the single market in services, including
the tourism sector. Free movement of persons engaged in
tourism must be guaranteed as soon, and as fully, as possible.

4.4.3.
It must be borne in mind that social sustainability
entails removing, mitigating or at least compensating for the
risks inherent in tourism for the local and family environment
of those working in the sector. The working time of the
sector’s employees, in daily, weekly and annual terms, often
cause family and social problems which are difficult to avoid,
and have a negative impact on the education of young people,
on the necessary balance of family and professional life, and
on the capacity to forge social links and cohesion.

4.4.4.
Tourism is an ideal tool for introducing the peoples
of the world to each other and forging links between them.
Only by getting to know each other can they understand and
appreciate each other, and exchange knowledge, culture and
experience. Each journey exposes tourists and travellers to
emotions and experiences bringing them closer to other
peoples and other ways of life which enrich them, increasing
their sense of tolerance and solidarity.

4.4.
This triple focus is even clearer in the case of tourism.
Tourism is perhaps unique among industries in that its basic
product is ‘tourist attraction’, comprising a series of ingredients
in which enjoyment of nature, variety of settings and land-
scapes, biodiversity and respect for the environment play a
crucial role in ensuring product quality and matching the
product with its potential users, tourists.

4.4.5.
The purpose of this opinion is to ensure — or at
least help to ensure — that tourism, today and in the future,
fulfils its basic function of increasing knowledge and exchange
between peoples, and that it can be enjoyed by all regardless
of physical ability, age, income, ethnic origin, religion or any
other factor.

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The need for internal consistency in the EU and its
4.5.
institutions requires that this opinion focus on new forms of
socially sustainable tourism open to all, as part of the broader
concept of sustainability or sustainable development;
the
opinion also points towards practical steps which may be
taken.

PART TWO: PROPOSALS

5. Ten aspects of sustainable tourism, one hundred initiatives for

action

5.1. T o u r i s m a n d t o u r i s t s

Clearly all economic and social activity needs to focus on the
individual. Tourism,
like any economic activity involving
personal, individual and collective relations between peoples,
must above all meet the needs of people, as citizens of a
nation, European citizens and, ultimately, citizens of the world.

The tourist, as consumer, must be both the beneficiary of
services and the source of demand under conditions favourable
to the sustainability of tourism and its availability to all.

Various initiatives can be adopted with a view to designing
a form of tourism for the future which will meet these
requirements.

5.1.1.
The exercise of responsibility by tourists from the
environmental and social points of view, involving the various
links in the tourist services chain: transport, reception at the
tourist destination, entertainment, accommodation, contact
with nature, contact with local culture and heritage, and
especially with tourism professionals and the general public at
tourist destinations.

Reinforcing the various environmental labels which
5.1.5.
provide consumers with information and point them towards
more sustainable forms of tourism and consumption.

5.1.6.
Promoting the development by tourist operators of
products based on the sustainable use of resources and
avoidance of excess waste.

5.1.7.
Focus on sustainable quality by tourist sector players,
so that meeting customer requirements is the essential goal of
any business; ensuring transparent prices and services at
European, national and regional level by harmonising bench-
marks for service and establishment quality, and always
bearing in mind sustainability criteria.

5.1.8.
Creating and disseminating sustainable models of
rights and responsibilities of tourists, agents and institutions,
with special emphasis on personal safety, which is one of the
main concerns of tourists.

5.1.9.
Respecting the principles of the Code of Ethical
Tourism approved by the WTO, which must become the basis
of consumer behaviour for both tourists and tourist operators.
In particular, sexual tourism, which must not be considered as
a valid form of tourism, must be rejected.

5.1.10.
Reinforcing tourism as a fundamental, useful and
necessary activity for everyone and as an instrument of
exchange of local culture and of the concept and reality of
European citizenship without frontiers, making tourism into a
vehicle for the human and cultural development of tourists,
balancing tourists’ rights and responsibilities as consumers.
Promoting Europe as a whole as a sustainable and accessible
tourist destination for the rest of the world.

5.2. T o u r i s m a n d e m p l o y m e n t

5.1.2.
Promotion by all institutions and players involved in
tourism of staggered holiday periods as a way of minimising
the impact of tourism and reducing its seasonality.

Promoting a broadly based policy of training and
5.1.3.
information, awareness-raising and management on patterns
of sustainable consumption throughout the tourist season in
the countries of origin, during the journey and at the tourist
destinations.

Various large-scale studies have repeatedly highlighted the
enormous current impact and the extraordinary potential of
tourism as a source of jobs. But in order to turn this into
reality, in socially and economically sustainable terms, various
conditions have to be met. The fact
tourism is an
economic activity fundamentally based on personal services
means that any new tourist activity generates new jobs, but
tourism can only be high-quality and sustainable if it generates
high-quality jobs.

that

5.1.4.
Promoting, by all available means, energy-efficient
tourism in relation to transport, as a way of minimising the
use of resources.

Various initiatives could be adopted with a view to ensuring
that in the future tourism is able to generate more and better
jobs in tourist enterprises and areas.

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Drawing up lifelong training plans for people work-
5.2.1.
ing in the tourism sector, making employees more adaptable,
employable and providing scope for career development.

Applying measures for reconciling family life and
5.2.9.
work, especially in tourist areas with a low degree of sectoral
diversification. Particularly with regard to day-care centres,
housing and infrastructure.

5.2.2.
Promoting the updating of qualifications, specialisms
and skills in order to adapt to major changes in the organisation
and management of tourist activity. Creating new career
profiles to meet the requirements of new forms of tourism,
which is more sustainable and more open to all. An impetus
must be given to tourism-related environmental jobs, as an
integral part of future employment.

5.2.10.
Ensuring equality of labour and wage rights, inde-
pendently of gender, age, ethnic background or religion. Given
the international dimension of tourism, states should at least
subscribe to Convention No 172 of the International Labour
Organisation and Recommendation No 179 on Working
Conditions (Hotels and Restaurants) of 1991.

5.2.3.
Promoting the creation of diversified tourism prod-
ucts extending over the whole year in order to avoid the
tourist activity, and consequently
excessive seasonality of
employment. Giving priority to turning disadvantaged areas
or former industrial or mining areas etc. into tourist areas, and
to developing rural tourism facilities in areas affected by
changes in agriculture or the Common Agricultural Policy, as
a way of providing alternative activities and maintaining
employment and social cohesion.

5.2.4.
Collective bargaining and legislation must recognise
the rights of part-time or seasonal workers, with regard to
work and social benefits, including pensions. The European
Parliament and the social partners are asked to promote
measures to consolidate the position in Europe and in the
tourist industry of workers with discontinuous contracts of
employment, giving them employment and social rights equal
to those of permanent workers.

5.2.5.
Promoting the flexibility and transferability of qualifi-
cations which will be favourable to stability of employment
throughout the year.

Researching and proposing, in the context of collec-
5.2.6.
tive bargaining, forms and systems of labour relations making
it possible for social security contributions to continue
throughout the year even when employment is limited to the
period of peak tourist activity.

5.3. T o u r i s m a n d b u s i n e s s e s : e n t r e p r e n e u r -
s o c i a l

i a l
c o m p e t i t i v e n e s s
r e s p o n s i b i l i t y o f b u s i n e s s e s

a n d

Tourism is fundamentally a complex economic activity, a
group of economic services and sectors governed by market
rules and based on companies seeking competitiveness, wealth
creation, and which ultimately create employment and quality
of life for ordinary people, both as users and as workers in the
sector. If this economic activity is to be sustainable, now and
in the future, a number of conditions have to be met which
can be underpinned by various initiatives.

5.3.1.
Promoting knowledge of opportunities generated by
tourist demand now and in the future, as a way of generating
wealth by means of new products and destinations meeting
sustainability requirements.

5.3.2.
Promoting an ongoing dialogue between the tourism
sector, government, employers’ organisations, trade unions
and ordinary people in search of consensus and the quality
and sustainability of the industry.

Promoting the active participation of workers in
5.2.7.
the
quality improvement and certification, ensuring that
quality of tourist activities and firms is underpinned by proper
working conditions.

5.3.3.
Reaching agreement on the responsibility of the
industry for the local area, its culture, social features, environ-
ment, promoting the social acceptance of tourist activity.
Firms in the sector will be encouraged to adopt corporate
social responsibility policies as a commitment to sustainable
tourism.

Improving access

5.2.8.
information,
employment opportunities, vocational guidance and active
employment policies, preferably using information and com-
munications technologies (ICT).

to employment

5.3.4.
Creating support instruments for the establishment
of businesses, particularly SMEs, assisting them with training,
research, knowledge transfer and business cooperation.

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Promoting a culture and activities conducive to high-
5.3.5.
quality tourism products and services, integrating environmen-
tal quality as an essential aspect of all quality certification.

Developing the potential of tourism in a positive way and
reducing the risk of social or cultural disruption is the basis of
socially sustainable tourism.

5.3.6.
Promoting the creation and diversification of non-
seasonal products and services with a view to all-year activity,
countering the dominance of seasonal products and services.

Maintaining socially sustainable tourism, from the point of
view of the social cohesion of local areas and people, requires
that a number of conditions be met by means of various
initiatives.

5.3.7.
Boosting the competitiveness of firms through the
introduction of management techniques, modernisation and
the use of information and communication technologies (ICT)
in firms and in their relations with customers, suppliers and
employees.

Government, with the involvement of the sector’s
5.4.1.
players, laying down parameters for the volume and growth
of tourism which do not exceed the sustainable absorption
capacity of tourist destinations, not only from the environmen-
tal point of view but also with a view to balance in the local
population.

5.3.8.
Defending and promoting the role of the company
in the tourism sector vis-à-vis the various illegal forms of
tourism which do not contribute to the improvement of
society, do not supervise the quality of their tourist services
and do not protect consumers’ rights.

Promoting forms of tourism which contribute to
5.4.2.
the preservation of local customs, strengthening them and
promoting diverse local
identities which are attractive in
tourist terms.

5.3.9.
Giving preference to forms of tourism based on the
economic activity with the greatest added value and least
environmental impact, as against forms of residential tourism
based on ownership of land and buildings, with a low rate of
annual utilisation of these assets. Tourism is essentially an
economic activity which must be profitable and competitive
all year round and in the long-term and not only for a limited
part of the year.

Organising research,

information and the pro-
5.3.10.
motion of tourism products and services through public-
private partnerships, using information and communication
technologies and e-commerce. Government to offer services
to business (databases, information and promotion networks
etc.).

5.4. T o u r i s m a n d s o c i a l c o h e s i o n :

i m p a c t

a n d s o c i a l b a l a n c e o f t o u r i s t a c t i v i t y

Tourism is a powerful means of promoting contacts between
different peoples, while at the same time generating economic
and social well-being in tourist areas. Often, however, social
relations in the local population have been affected by a
perceived loss of the traditional balance, in the face of an
influx of visitors exceeding several times over the number of
local residents, and a consequent trend to standardisation in
products, including tourism products, and in social relations.

5.4.3.
Involving the local population in the planning and
management of tourist destinations, not only as passive hosts,
but as active participants. Tourism can play an important part
in improving the rural environment in the EU Member states,
particularly the new ones.

5.4.4.
Obtaining maximum social consensus in the host
population in order to minimise the negative effects of tourism
and maximise its positive ones.

5.4.5.
Ensuring that the local population enjoys proper
conditions of health, education, and other public services,
needed for individual and community development, both for
people working in the tourist industry and for the rest of the
local population. Access to suitable housing is in particular a
fundamental right which government and the industry must
strive to guarantee for tourism sector workers.

5.4.6.
Developing broadly based social integration activities
among the local population, equal opportunities, training and
jobs as the only way of preventing a hiatus between economic
prosperity and social cohesion.

5.4.7.
Promoting family life in communities focusing on
tourist activities, which is frequently disrupted by the daily,
weekly and annual working patterns of tourism sector workers
which differ from those of school-age children.

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5.4.8. Making young people who opt for long-term, added
value training into role models for the large number of school
drop-outs attracted by easy and immediate access to jobs in
the tourism sector requiring no qualifications; ensuring that
the available jobs allow them to continue full vocational
training.

Promoting various forms of community association
5.4.9.
and participation among the local population to improve
social networks in tourist areas.

5.4.10.
Combating all forms of crime in tourist areas and
especially the impact of tourism in terms of sexual exploitation,
especially that involving children, for which legitimate tourism
activities are often used as a cover.

5.5. T o u r i s m a n d s t a b i l i t y :

r e d u c i n g s e a -

s o n a l b i a s

The seasonality of tourism has been described as the sector’s
major outstanding issue,
in that it is the cause of serious
imbalances because it does not continue throughout all the
potentially effective periods, with serious consequences for
businesses, people employed in tourism, tourist areas, and
ultimately tourism’s proven capacity to generate wealth and
prosperity.

Seasonality first and foremost means under-utilisation of
physical capital (equipment, buildings, infrastructure etc.) as
well as human capital, which is idle for much of the year. The
result is clear: if there is no tourism, sector workers do not get
paid and have to seek other activities or else join the ranks of
the unemployed during the off-season.

In some cases this period of inactivity is long, in others short;
in some cases it is during the winter and in others during the
in almost all cases it will have damaging
summer, but
consequences throughout the year. In all cases the stability of
employment, which is a precondition for the quality of
employment, is under threat, and in other cases companies’
profitability and competitiveness will be compromised by
seasonality and consequent loss of revenue, which is a grave
threat to the sustainability of employment and to the whole of
tourist activity.

5.5.1.
paving the way towards diverse, all-year-round tourism.

Facilitating the staggering of holiday periods of users,

Promoting, by means of special offers with public-
5.5.2.
sector support or financing, tourism aimed at sections of
society not working during periods of slack tourist activity,
developing and reinforcing forms of social tourism already
existing in some Member States, while also broadening its
objectives, activities and clientele to embrace the whole
European Union.

5.5.3.
Promoting the creation of clearly non-seasonal tour-
ism products in areas where this is possible as a way of
compensating for under-diversified activity.

5.5.4.
Diversifying the economies of tourist areas, combin-
ing seasonal tourism activity with other, non-tourist industries
in order to mitigate the negative effects and maximise the
positive effects of the spreading of risk.

5.5.5.
Promoting international student exchanges through-
out the year as a form of cultural and educational tourism, to
encourage closer contact between countries. It will also offer
children the opportunity to learn to speak the language of the
country in question fluently and to learn about local culture.

5.5.6.
Establishing social tourism programmes in all EU
Member States under conditions making them financially
accessible to everyone and conducive to the well-being of
users, providing workers with all-year-round employment and
underpinning the profitability of companies.

Stepping up the research being done by the European
5.5.7.
Commission on forms of
trans-national cooperation and
coordination at European level through the social tourism
programmes which seek to promote the positive effects
of cultural and social exchange and to promote European
citizenship as a concept and an everyday reality.

Ensuring that the pressure of new tourism activities
5.5.8.
on the environment is contained with a view to sustainability
and the social benefits which they can bring.

Facilitating participation,

5.5.9.
through public-private
partnership arrangements, in the management of new products
to combat seasonality with a view to improving the economic,
social and environmental balance in tourist areas.

Bearing in mind the climatic basis for seasonality, finding a
complete solution to this problem is difficult, but various
initiatives can help mitigate seasonality and its damaging
effects.

5.5.10.
Promoting trans-national exchange of experience
in this area, sharing existing good practice and investigating
ways of introducing this in other countries.

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5.6. T o u r i s m , c u l t u r e a n d h e r i t a g e

The rich cultural heritage of towns and rural areas throughout
Europe is undoubtedly a major attraction for tourists and
travellers. The diversity of customs and traditions of Europe’s
rural areas is also a source of intangible, but very real wealth,
which tourism can help preserve and exploit. Some of these
intangible cultural values such as craftsmanship, music, oral
traditions, customs, languages, dances, rituals, festivals, tra-
ditional medicine and remedies, cuisine etc. can form an
integral part of some new forms of socially sustainable tourism.
Similarly, sporting events are ideally suited to tourism and to
the exchange of different values between peoples. There are
two possible approaches to the relationship between tourism
on the one hand and culture and heritage on the other:
1) exploiting the various aspects of this culture and heritage,
with tourism as a means of maintaining, preserving and
improving them, or 2) destroying these assets through irres-
ponsible consumption. The first option is sustainable, and the
second is socially unsustainable. We can propose various
initiatives to promote cultural and heritage sustainability
through tourism.

5.6.1.
Taking account of tourism capacity as a fundamental
variable in the tourism-culture-heritage relationship, if we wish
to ensure the sustainability of tourism, and regulate access to
it and its impact in the light of socially based limits.

5.6.2.
Respecting local cultures and customs as essential
aspects of life in tourist destinations, preventing these areas
being swamped or having alien customs imposed on them.

5.6.3.
of tourist areas, by restoring and maintaining them.

Promoting the exploitation of the arts and heritage

5.6.4.
Promoting the exploitation of the heritage resources
of each area in order to encourage the diversification of
tourism products.

5.6.5.
Ensuring that the tourist industry brings in sufficient
resources to enable local authorities to maintain the area’s
culture and heritage.

Promoting trans-national cultural exchanges in the
5.6.8.
form of networks to encourage the development of intercul-
tural relations, bringing Europeans into contact with Europe’s
rich diversity. In particular promoting exchanges between
young people in the framework of European programmes
(Erasmus, Socrates). Similarly, promoting foreign language
teaching in the Member States by means of international
teacher exchanges, so that schoolchildren are taught by native
speakers. This will make it easier for children to improve their
linguistic skills, and exchange teachers will be able to provide
direct cultural input.

5.6.9.
Improving the range of local hotel and restaurant
services as a reflection of local culture, distinct from standard-
ised international cuisine.

5.6.10.
Promoting the management of the cultural heritage
through forms of social participation, partnership and spon-
sorship, with the coordinated involvement of the public,
employers’ organisations, trade unions and institutions.

5.7. T o u r i s m a n d a c c e s s i b i l i t y f o r p e o p l e

w i t h d i s a b i l i t i e s

Tourism has become an extremely important social phenom-
enon involving millions of people throughout the world,
especially in Europe; not only is it an unprecedented force for
wealth-creation and economic progress, but also a crucial
factor
in improving knowledge, communication, human
relations and mutual respect between different peoples.

Tourism is of major benefit to society and should be within
everyone’s reach, with no sector of the community being
excluded whatever their personal, social, economic or other
circumstances. People with disabilities — 10 % of the total EU
population — are becoming more integrated socially and
economically and hence participating more and more in
tourist activities despite all the impediments and difficulties
which continue to prevent
them from accessing tourist
facilities and services on a regular and normal basis.

Encouraging authentic local crafts throughout the
5.6.6.
added value chain of the tourist industry as a way of preserving
the cultural heritage and giving a boost to the economy.

5.6.7.
Stepping up research into the local historical and
cultural heritage of every tourist area in order to enhance
the area’s appreciation of its history and contribute to its
exploitation.

Removing and lessening these barriers is not only a must
on grounds of equal rights and opportunities and non-
discrimination, as championed by the EU and its Member
States, but is also an effective way of including new groups of
people in tourism-related activities, thus contributing to the
growth of an economic sector which, especially in the southern
European countries, has a direct impact on the creation of
wealth and jobs in the interests of society as a whole.

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No one can doubt the reality of this situation. It has led
European associations for the disabled to proclaim some
benchmark criteria with respect to tourism and disability
which constitute a kind of ten-point statement of principles
setting out their aspirations in this area. These principles could
be given practical shape by the following initiatives:

that people with disabilities are already in a disadvantaged
position, especially those who need the assistance of other
people if they are to enjoy tourism or leisure activities.

5.7.1.
Ensuring that people with disabilities and especially
those with mobility and communication problems, are actually
and effectively able to exercise the right to access tourist
facilities and services of all kinds on a regular and normal
basis.

Accessibility and the free use of tourist facilities and
5.7.8.
services by the disabled should be one of the criteria taken into
account when quality ratings are handed out
to tourist
establishments (e.g. hotel and restaurant stars).

5.7.2. Making sure that mobility and communication prob-
lems are never used as a reason for prohibiting, denying,
limiting or hedging with conditions access to tourist facilities
and services on equal terms with the rest of the population.

All tourist information material and services must
5.7.9.
provide information on the accessibility of tourist facilities and
services so that persons with disabilities know precisely and in
advance what they will encounter.

5.7.3.
The public authorities at their various levels (local,
regional, national and Community) must establish and enforce
uniform legal and technical rules ensuring free access for
persons with disabilities to tourist facilities and services.

5.7.4.
The public authorities must promote, within their
respective spheres of competence, programmes and actions
designed to facilitate accessibility and the gradual removal of
all types of barriers which make it difficult or impossible for
people with disabilities to access adequate tourist services in
safety and comfort.

5.7.5.
Ensuring that accessible tourism or tourism for all is
not solely the responsibility of the public authorities, but also
of all private players working in this socio-economic sector
(tour operators, travel agents, transport companies, hoteliers,
tourist attraction managers, etc.).

5.7.6.
The accessibility of tourist facilities and services
should not only be regulated by the public authorities —
though it is they who must ensure that the disabled can use
and enjoy existing tourist facilities to the full — but the
industry itself must realise that such access, besides being a
social responsibility, is a business opportunity and competitive
advantage.

5.7.7.
Public authorities and private operators working in
the tourism sector must bear in mind, with a view to offering
price and contract concessions on their products and services,

5.7.10.
Promoting and disseminating the call by associ-
ations for the disabled to European authorities, national
governments, regional and local authorities and to private
operators in the European tourism sector, to do everything
they can to make Europe — which is the centre of international
tourism — an area free of obstacles, open to everyone.

By implementing these principles and initiatives we will be
opening up tourist facilities, products and services to a section
of the population — people with disabilities and many older
people — which until now has had only limited access. With
these actions we will: further non-discrimination and access to
tourism for all; enhance the range of tourist facilities and
services on offer; start to address the demands of a group
which has not always been taken into account as consumers
of tourism products; and open up the market to more potential
customers, hence generating wealth and progress.

It often happens that, besides physical obstacles, many people
suffer from psychological
inhibitions caused by a lack of
knowledge of the real needs of the disabled which results in
inconsiderate behaviour. In order to inform and alert the
general public and the tourism industry to the need for these
initiatives and the role that each person can play, the launch
of a massive Europe-wide awareness campaign is proposed as
a contribution to 2003, European Year of People with
Disabilities.

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5.8. T o u r i s m a n d t h e e n v i r o n m e n t

5.8.6.
encouraging movement by foot and public transport.

Promoting sustainable mobility within tourist areas,

In the recent past tourism and the environment have been
seen as mutually antagonistic: the wealth generated by tourism
was at the expense of the environment, exploitation of the
best sites, preferably by the coast or in the mountains, without
consideration for such factors as biodiversity, the resources
already there, scale or the capacity to absorb development.
Faced with a difficult choice between two factors which were
— wrongly — presented as mutually exclusive, the general
response can be clearly seen from the situation we find
ourselves in today: we opted for growth, wealth-creation, even
if it meant damaging the environment. And this, paradoxically,
in an activity which is based on preserving the attractiveness
of nature. This undoubtedly stems from two different ways of
looking at things: the short-term vision of immediate real
estate profits and the long-term vision of a sustainable and
competitive industry. Once again we face the need to establish
conditions and initiatives conducive to new forms of environ-
mentally sustainable tourism.

Striking the right balance between tourist numbers
5.8.1.
and means of transport so as to minimise the energy used by
tourism and by transport in particular.

5.8.2. Making the planning of new tourist developments
subject to strict sustainability criteria: appropriate site, mini-
mum and renewable use of resources, especially water and
energy. Urban planning in all its different forms should be the
main means of ensuring suitability and minimising the impact.

5.8.3.
Keeping a permanent eye on the population ceiling
for a given area and the rate of sustainable growth, ensuring
that the rules are respected by means of inspections.

5.8.4.
Preserving the landscape, biodiversity, our natural
land and marine heritage and, in particular, coastal and alpine
systems which are especially fragile, vulnerable and a prey to
developers. New forms of rural and eco-tourism should help
to correct the balance.

Encouraging environmental awareness among resi-
5.8.7.
dents and tourists and introducing sustainable patterns of
behaviour. Local agenda 21, which emerged from the 1992
Rio de Janeiro Earth Summit as a call to all towns and cities to
prepare to meet the challenges of the 21st century, is a good
integral long-term planning instrument, a methodology for
overcoming the conflicts between different economic, social
and environmental values and for involving the people in
sustainability action plans.

5.8.8.
Promoting the use of regulatory and financial instru-
ments and incentives in the form of eco-taxes which can make
a powerful contribution to sustainability policies and activities
in tourist areas.

5.8.9.
mentally-friendly products.

Encouraging visitors and residents to buy environ-

Establishing generally accepted eco-audit and eco-
5.8.10.
labelling systems to encourage correct environmental behav-
iour. Supporting the development at European level of a
common eco-label and facilitating the introduction of the
tourist accommodation service eco-criteria approved on
14 April 2003.

5.9. T o u r i s m , p e a c e a n d s o l i d a r i t y

Tourism is just the opposite of war. War means the invasion
of one country by another, aggression, the destruction of
nature and heritage,
the humiliation and even death of
human beings. Tourism on the other hand means a welcome,
interaction, getting to know a place, conserving the environ-
ment, wealth — in short, peace and friendship between people.
If we only love what we know, tourism, as a means of bringing
people closer together,
is a force for harmony and peace
between nations, cultures, religions and individuals. Democ-
racy and political and socio-economic stability must certainly
contribute to this objective, in the countries tourists come
from and those they visit.

Understanding between peoples and the promotion of ethical
values are at the root of sustainable and responsible tourism;
solidarity between peoples can grow from acquaintance as
tourists.

5.8.5.
Introducing advanced environmental management
systems into firms and institutions to help them manage
resources (water, energy, waste) by means of coordinated
action and public-private partnerships.

For tourism to be a real expression and instrument of peace
and solidarity, and hence sustainable and accessible, various
initiatives are needed:

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Tourists must fully respect the laws, customs and
5.9.1.
cultures of the countries they visit, recognising their richness.

The authorities must ensure the safety of tourists and
5.9.2.
their property and inform them about and prevent possible
aggression.

5.9.3.
Encouraging tourists to enjoy the natural resources
and heritage but also to respect them and see them as a means
of personal and collective enrichment.

5.9.4.
tation or affront
children, as these go against the basic objectives of tourism.

Combating all forms of aggression and sexual exploi-
to human dignity, especially involving

5.9.5.
truthful information on destinations.

Tour agents must provide tourists with objective and

It is the responsibility of political and institutional
5.10.1.
policymakers to define the appropriate framework in which
new forms of sustainable tourism are possible and can be
promoted by means of the full range of instruments at the
disposal of the public authorities. The political priorities of
this strategy of accessible and sustainable tourism must be
geared towards ensuring that tourism is taken into account in
all horizontal policies and in all relevant common policy areas.
Accurate, high-quality data, e.g.
in the form of Tourism
Satellite Accounts, can be instrumental in drawing up appro-
priate policies for achieving sustainability and accessibility.

5.10.2.
Administrations, especially those at grass-roots level
— regional and local — have a special role to play insofar as
they are the ones who draw up urban land use plans for tourist
areas, who help to reconcile the interests of tourists and the
local community and who plan economic activity, in this case
tourism. They have a very important role in sustainable
tourism and normally have direct or indirect powers vis-à-vis
the tourism sector.

5.9.6.
Promoting and enforcing the right of everyone to be
a tourist, as an expression of the right to recreation, leisure
and lifelong learning.

5.10.3.
To enable them to exercise this important role in
the interests of sustainability, financial instruments should be
made available at local and regional level enabling them to put
into practice the agreed policies and strategies.

5.9.7.
Tourist areas should pool their experience of tourist
developments so that they do not make the same mistakes.
This is an exercise in solidarity to avoid development models
which have proved unsustainable.

5.9.8.
Generally encouraging tourism between all peoples
throughout the world as an ideal way out of poverty, of
generating development and prosperity in many countries.

5.10.4.
The social partners: trade unions and employers’
organisations must champion the interests of those they
represent, but taking into account the need to devise policies,
strategies and practices tailored to the sustainability of tourism;
consequently their involvement in and co-responsibility for
the planning, monitoring and assessment of tourism initiatives
should be facilitated.

5.9.9.
Peace is a prerequisite for all sustainable develop-
ment. Consequently the tourist industry should reaffirm and
work towards establishing globally the conditions of equality,
justice, democracy and prosperity under which it can flourish.

5.10.5.
Providers of tourist services supply the final prod-
uct, interface with consumers and draw up the basic contracts
governing what they pay and what they get for their money,
and ultimately they are responsible for the quality of the
product as a whole.

Encouraging tourism in all its forms as a means
5.9.10.
whereby peoples get to know each other and of bringing about
peace between nations. Supporting initiatives for recognising
in symbolic fashion the role that tourism plays in bringing
peace to the world: e.g. Peace through Tourism.

5.10. T o u r i s m a n d t h e p l a y e r s i n t h e s e c t o r

5.10.6. Middlemen bring the product to potential con-
sumers and put service users and providers in contact with
each other. Their particular importance for the sustainability
of the product stems from the fact that they are the ones who
recommend destinations and provide responsible advice for
users.

The vast range of stakeholders involved in tourism makes it
advisable to differentiate the role each plays in this complex
task of defining new forms of sustainable tourism.

5.10.7.
Universities and other research bodies provide
knowledge, management tools and information, in short data
of vital importance for the sustainability of the sector.

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Users are the key to sustainable tourism; insofar as
5.10.8.
they adopt sustainable consumption patterns, they will favour
destinations and products which meet these criteria.

Conclusions of
24 March 2000

the Lisbon European Council of 23 and

The local host community is the necessary human
5.10.9.
resource which provides services for the tourist industry and
its relations with tourists determine whether ultimately they
are satisfied and will return to the destination.

Report of 28 March 2001 from the Commission to the
Council, the European Parliament, the Economic and Social
Committee and the Committee of the Regions — Community
measures affecting tourism (3)

5.10.10.
All of these players must be made aware of the
need to work together, to talk to each other and reach a
consensus on the basis of the same principles of accessibility
and sustainability. To this end, various arrangements for
dialogue and participation (forums, committees, boards, etc.)
must be set up from Community down to local level.

Of particular value are the European Tourism Forum sponso-
red by the Commission and the EESC’s cooperation with
other international institutions such as the World Tourism
Organisation and the International Social Tourism Bureau
(BITS), as a way of advancing knowledge and consensus in the
interests of sustainable and accessible tourism.

PART THREE: APPENDICES AND BACKGROUND

Commission Green Paper on the Role of the Union in the field
of tourism (1)

Council conclusions on tourism and employment of 26 Nov-
ember 1997

Conclusions and action plan of the extraordinary European
Council of 21 September 2001

Report from the Commission to the Council, the European
Parliament, the Economic and Social Committee and the
Committee of the Regions — Follow-up of the European
Council of 21 September: the situation in the European
tourism sector (4)

Commission Communication to the Council, the European
Parliament, the Economic and Social Committee and the
Committee of the Regions — Working together for the future
of European tourism (5)

Conclusions of the Internal Market, Consumers and Tourism
Council of 26 November 2001

Council Resolution on the Future of European tourism (2002/
C135/01)

Opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee on
the Integration of disabled people in society (2002/C241/17)

Tourism in Europe: New partnerships for jobs. Conclusions
and recommendations of the High Level Group on Employ-
ment and Tourism, 15 October 1998

Opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee on
Tourism and employment (6)

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 (2)

Opinion of 18 September 2002 of the European Economic
and Social Committee on the Commission Communication to
the Council, the European Parliament, the Economic and Social
Committee and the Committee of the Regions on Working
together for the future of European tourism (7)

Follow-up to the conclusions and recommendations of the
High Level Group on Tourism and Employment of 23 June
1999 (1999/C178/03)

Conclusions of the Council on tourism and employment of
21 June 1999

Opinion of 10 October 2002 of the Committee of the Regions
on the Commission Communication to the Council,
the
European Parliament, the Economic and Social Committee and
the Committee of the Regions on Working together for the
future of European tourism

(1) COM(95) 97 final.
(2) COM(1999) 205 final.

(3) COM(2001) 171 final.
(4) COM(2001) 668 final.
(5) COM(2001) 665 final.
(6) OJ C 75, 15.3.2000, p. 37.
(7) OJ C 61, 14.3.2003.

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Commission Communication of 13 November 2002 to the
Council, the European Parliament, the Economic and Social
Committee and the Committee of the Regions on Working
together for the future of European tourism

Resolution of 14 May 2002 of the European Parliament on
the Commission Communication to the Council, the European
Parliament, the Economic and Social Committee and the
Committee of the Regions on Working together for the future
of European tourism

Commission Decision of 14 April 2003 establishing the
ecological criteria for the award of the Community eco-label
to tourist accommodation service (2003/287/EC)

Cooperation agreement between the Ministry of Economic
Affairs and the Spanish Committee of Representatives of
People with Disabilities with regard to Tourism For All Code
of Ethics of the World Tourism Organisation

Resolutions on sustainable tourism policy of the International
Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering,
Tobacco and Allied Workers’ Associations (UITA-IUF) and the
European Federation of Food, Agriculture and Tourism Trade
Unions (EFFAT).

Agenda 21. Sustainability in the European tourism sector.
Reference document. European Tourism Forum 2002,
10 December 2002

UNESCO action plan on cultural policies for development.
Intergovernmental Conference on cultural policies for develop-
ment (Stockholm, 1998).

Brussels, 29 October 2003.

The President

of the European Economic and Social Committee

Roger BRIESCH