EU restoration fund ought to assist tourism sector change into ‘extra resilient’ – EURACTIV.com

The EU budget and the coronavirus recovery fund should be used to help tourism “emerge more resilient from the crises ahead,” said EU Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton on Thursday (January 21).

Speaking via videoconference at an international forum on education, employment and training in tourism, the commissioner said the pandemic could act as an “accelerator of change” for the tourism sector.

To this end, “industry, authorities, social partners, education and trade providers should come together,” said Breton, adding: “We should not ignore a long-term perspective and more resilient tourism.”

In December, the European Union agreed on a budget of 1.8 trillion euros and a coronavirus recovery fund for the next seven years (2021-2027), some of which can be used for the tourism industry.

For Breton, EU funding for the tourism sector should be sought with “a double objective: to act in the short term and to promote long-term investments for the simple transformation of tourism into environmentally friendly and digital”.

This view was endorsed by the Portuguese Minister for Economic Affairs, Pedro Siza Vieira, who highlighted the importance of European economic instruments in recreating and transforming the tourism sector to make it greener and more “digital”.

“As we prepare for the implementation of the European NextGenerationEU funds, we are also considering how we can best prepare our societies and our economies for the challenges of tomorrow,” said Siza Vieira.

In this way he emphasized: “The society and economy of tomorrow will be more digital, more sustainable and certainly more resilient.”

For the minister, who is also responsible for the digital transition, digital technologies will be “fundamental” for the future of tourism, especially in the choice of travel destinations, in payment systems and in business-customer contacts in general.

Siza Vieira said he thought it “cheap” to pay attention to the tourism industry during the Portuguese Presidency of the EU Council. The sector should be “up to date with the critical skills that will be required in the future” as the tourism industry prepares to restart after the pandemic, he said.

The international forum for education, employment and training in tourism was organized by the Portuguese Ministry of Economic Affairs as part of the country’s six-month EU presidency, which began on January 1st.

[Edited by Frédéric Simon]