19 September 2023: ERA participated last week in the Together for EU Tourism stakeholder meeting organised by the DG for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs (GROW) aimed at sharing recent developments in the EU tourism ecosystem with EU stakeholders. As a reminder, the European Commission published on 4 February 2022 the Transition Pathway for Tourism covering 27 areas for a green, digital resilient EU tourism ecosystem.

The presentations of the different speakers and a video recording are available on the event’s website: https://single-market-economy.ec.europa.eu/events/together-eu-tourism-stakeholder-meeting-2023-09-11_en [1].

Although the first national figures will not be available until the end of September, the European Commission has reported a very positive summer season in Europe, in contrast to the slowdown in short-haul travel seen in the United States. In some Member States (Italy, Portugal, Spain, Greece) the numbers have exceeded 2019 levels.

The Commission also noted a large number of cases of over tourism and an increase in last-minute bookings or cancellations due to climate change (reference was made to the fires in southern Europe) which is expected to become a trend in the coming years.

In terms of connectivity, the Commission reported on the issues that airlines and airports are currently facing in terms of staff recruitment, as well as the ongoing strikes at national level despite the efforts of national authorities.

Finally, the Commission reported on two ongoing consumer protection initiatives, namely the revision of Regulation 261/2004 on air passenger rights and the Package Travel Directive (PTD). In particular, the Package Travel Directive is currently at stage of the Regulatory Scrutiny Board (RSB) while the revision of the Air Passenger Rights Regulation has already been examined by the RSB and is expected to go through the College of Commissioners in November 2023.