Tourism in Kraków
From October 5 to October 7 2011, Kraków was the centre of European tourism. On these days, the Małopolska Region’s capital hosted the 10th European Tourism Forum as well as the most important event of the Polish Presidency of the Council of the European Union – the Informal Meeting of EU Ministers responsible for tourism.
The European Tourism Forum is an annual event organised since 2002 as a response to the EU Council’s call to promote a dialogue between the public sector, the tourism sector and other stakeholders. The Forum is attended by representatives of the European Commission, the Member States’ tourism administrations at central and regional levels, local governments, the industry’s self-governing bodies and international organisations as well as tourism businesses.
The Forum allows the tourism sector to present and discuss its most important problems.
The European Commission, in consultation with the Member States and associations representing the tourism industry, for many years has been undertaking intensive measures with the aim to develop the European tourism and enhance its competitiveness.
Over the recent years, the European Union laid the foundation for the European tourism policy, focusing in particular on factors decisive for its competitiveness and on the requirements of sustainable development. As a result of the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty, the role of tourism has been recognised and the EU has acquired the competence to support, coordinate or supplement the actions of the Member States.
The European tourism sector needs to develop. The European Commission, in its Communication of 30 June 2010 “Europe, the world’s No 1 tourist destination – a new political framework for tourism in Europe” indicates the directions and sets out a European framework for action aimed at creating favourable conditions for tourism development in Europe.
The activities in the field of tourism, assumed in the Communication, focus around four pillars:
1. Stimulating competitiveness of the European tourism sector;
2. Promoting the development of sustainable, responsible and high-quality tourism;
3. Consolidating the image and profile of Europe as a collection of sustainable and high-quality tourist destinations;
4. Maximising the potential of EU policies and existing financial instruments for tourism.
The leading topic of this year’s edition of ETF in Kraków was the first of these priorities, i.e. “Stimulating competitiveness in the European tourism sector”. The subject was a continuation of the discussion started at the 9th European Tourism Forum in Melliecha (Malta) on the actions foreseen in the Commission Communication COM (2010) 352, entitled “Europe, the world’s No. 1 tourist destination – a new political framework for tourism in Europe”.
Finding ways to strengthen the competitiveness of the tourism sector is an extremely important task both for the Presidency and for all EU Member States. To be able to react immediately and cope with critical situations, a strong, flexible and innovative tourism sector is needed. In view of these challenges, the discussions at the European Tourism Forum in Kraków were held within two thematic panels devoted to two issues of key importance for competitiveness, which are:
• Consolidating the socio-economic knowledge base for tourism
• Development of innovation and information and communication technologies in tourism.
After the closing session of the Forum, an Informal Meeting of EU Tourism Ministers was held with the leading topic “Key issues in the implementation of the Commission Communication on Tourism – promotion of Europe in third countries”.
Another important point of the meeting in Kraków was the signing of an agreement with the European Commission, pursuant to which Poland will join the initiative “50000 tourists”. The project envisages an increase in tourist traffic between Latin America and the European Union.
The initiative implements the recommendations contained in the Commission Communication COM (2010) 352 “Europe, the world’s No. 1 tourist destination – a new political framework for tourism in Europe”, in particular relating to counteracting seasonality, increasing the number of jobs in the sector, strengthening the image of Europe and cooperation with third countries.
The initial stage of the project aims to encourage 25000 Latin Americans to visit Europe between October 2012 and March 2013, and 25000 Europeans to visit Latin America between May and October 2013.
During the Forum, a Joint Declaration between the European Commission and the European Travel Commission on cooperation in the field of tourism and the promotion of the “Destination Europe” brand, presenting Europe as a collection of sustainable tourist destinations, was also signed.
The document, of importance for supporting the competitiveness of European tourism, sets out objectives and areas of cooperation based on the Parties’ strategic documents, i.e. the Commission Communication “Europe, the world’s No. 1 tourist destination – a new political framework for tourism in Europe” and the European Travel Commission’s Strategy.
The signing of the Joint Declaration will result in the European Travel Commission’s broader engagement in the implementation of European projects such as:
• Promotion of ‘Destination Europe’ in third-country markets, in particular the North American market and BRIC countries’ markets;
• Development and promotion of pan-European tourist products such as European cultural routes;
• Use of information technologies in tourism promotion;
• „Promotion of Destination Europe” brand;
• Joint promotion activities at events organised by the tourism sector;
• Cooperation in the field of research and best practice.
The singing of the Joint Declaration confirms that the European Commission and the Member States notice and appreciate the contribution of ETC and National Tourism Organisations into the development of tourism.