EGWA & Greenways in the European Tourism Convention next 12/10/2020 

Following nine consecutive years of growth, the EU tourism ecosystem is among the hardest hit by the global COVID-19 pandemic affecting Europe since early 2020.

The European Commission is organising the European Tourism Convention on 12th October 2020. The Convention will launch a dialogue on sustainable recovery and the strategic orientations for the tourism of tomorrow and guide future work and cooperation on tourism (towards a European Agenda for Tourism 2050).

In the framework of the European Tourism Convention, the European Commission will organise three on-line thematic workshops, which will be held in parallel in the morning of 12th October:

1. Safe and Seamless Tourism Experience,
2. Greener Holidays, and
3. Tourism Powered by Data

The aim of the workshops is to map key issues, generate a discussion about the challenges and opportunities of the EU tourism sector linked with the three topics mentioned above and propose a set of SMART action points to be presented and discussed during the Plenary of the European Tourism Convention in the afternoon.

Each workshop will gather up to 30 participants, including representatives of the EU institutions, representatives of public authorities, European sectorial industry associations of the tourism and travel industry, international organisations, academics, as well as other relevant stakeholders. According to the Open Call for expression of interest for participation (closed 17 September) the selected participants will have a unique chance to guide the future work on tourism recovery and transition.

=> The candidacy presented by EGWA selected by the EC to participate in the Workshop #2 Greener Holidays

The European Commission appreciated the high-quality proposal. The input will be taken into account in the preparatory material of the workshop discussions.

These are the 3 priorities proposed, in line with the European Commission’s proposals towards green and digital transitions:

1) Increasing and improving the offer of greenways-and non-motorised itineraries and services around, for active travel; enhancing their cultural & natural heritage; promoting green & digital adaptation.

2) Development of tourism product, oriented to cycle tourism, outdoor and nature tourism, in attractive, safe and accessible itineraries. Marketing and sales.

3) Improving governance by strengthening public-private cooperation to become a successful destination; to achieve quality itineraries with better services, overall enhancing the value of local resources

Thanks to the EGWA members that sent comments and info about their greenways, we can confirm the great increase in visitors to the greenways and cycle routes this summer. This information has been mentioned in the application, to reinforce the interest, the need and the great potential for growth of the greenways and non-motorised routes, and so the importance they become part of the priorities and funding for “greener holidays” in the coming period.

Further information at the European Tourism Convention’s website http://www.tourism-convention.eu/workshops/

Source: European Tourism Convention, EGWA