A great Deal of Delightful Landscapes

The EU’s tourism industry in the strict sense of the term (traditional providers of holidays and tourism services) is made up of 2.3 million businesses, primarily small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), employing an estimated 12.3 million people. In 2014, one in 10 enterprises in the European non-financial business economy belonged to the tourism industries. In 2018, the ‘travel and tourism’ sector directly contributed 3.9% to EU GDP and accounted for 5.1% of the total labour force (which equates to some 11.9 million jobs). When its close links with other economic sectors are taken into account, the tourism sector’s figures increase significantly (10.3% of GDP and 11.7% of total employment, which equates to 27.3 million workers).

In 2019, the number of international tourist arrivals reached 1.5 billion worldwide (+4%), 745 million of which, or 50% of the market, were in Europe. The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, in March 2020, with its toll of uncertainty with regard to travel bans and sanitary obligations, represents today the most crucial challenge for the future of the tourism sector.

Tourism policy is also a means by which the EU can pursue broader employment and growth objectives. The environmental dimension of tourism will gain in significance over time. This is already reflected in projects involving sustainable, responsible and ethical tourism. In 2018, the European Parliament published a study on ‘Overtourism: impact and possible policy responses‘.

 

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