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Erhvervs-, Vækst- og Eksportudvalget 2014-15 (1. samling)
ERU Alm.del Bilag 57
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CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

of the European Interparliamentary Conference

„Challenges of Sustainable Tourism: Promoting Cultural Heritage and

Environment Protection“

Zagreb/Mali Lošinj, 10 – 13 September 2014

The first European Interparliamentary Conference

“Challenges of Sustainable Tourism:

Promoting Cultural Heritage and Environment Protection”

was held in Zagreb and Mali

Lošinj from 10 to 13 September 2014. The Conference was initiated and organised by the

Croatian Parliament.

The Conference was attended by the chairpersons and members of tourism committees in

national parliaments of Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cyprus, Montenegro,

Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Greece, Croatia, Ireland, Italy, Malta, Morocco, Portugal,

Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Serbia, Great Britain and Turkey, diplomatic representatives of

Bulgaria, Lithuania, Hungary, Macedonia, Germany and Poland, as well as representatives of

the European Parliament, European Commission, UN World Tourist Organisation, other

international tourist organisations and experts in the field of environmental protection and

cultural heritage.

The Committee on Tourism of the Croatian Parliament launched this initiative immediately

after Croatia's accession to the European Union in July 2013, and this was welcomed and

accepted by a number of other national parliaments in Europe.

The Conference was chaired by Mr. Goran Beus Richembergh, Chairman of the Committee

on Tourism of the Croatian Parliament, and co-chaired by Mr. Ettore Guglielmo Epifani,

Chairman of the Committee on Production, Trade and Tourism of the House of

Representatives (Camera Italiana) of the Italian Parliament.

The first part of the Conference on 10 and 11 September 2014 was held in the Croatian

Parliament in Zagreb, while the other part of the Conference on 12 September moved to

Mali Lošinj.

The official opening of the Conference by Mr. Josip Leko, Speaker of Croatian Parliament,

was also attended by the Deputy Speakers of Croatian Parliament, the First Deputy Prime

Minister of the Republic of Croatia and Minister of Foreign and European Affairs, the

Minister of Tourism of the Republic of Croatia, the Minister of Culture of the Republic of

Croatia, the Deputy Minister of Environmental and Nature Protection and the Chairman of

the Education, Science and Culture Committee of the Croatian Parliament.

European Interparliamentary Conference on Sustainable Tourism – Conclusions and Recommandations

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The main objective of the first European Interparliamentary Conference on Sustainable

Tourism was to promote the cooperation between EU Member States and the neighbouring

countries through the exchange of experiences in and information about the legislative

practices. The Conference also intended to highlight the role of tourism in the development

of national economies, the need of constant strengthening the sustainable tourism concepts

and the affirmation of concrete practice in a responsible use of cultural heritage and

environment protection as parts of this concept.

As the organiser and host of the Conference, Croatia presented several examples of good

practice in the island of Lošinj: the construction of the Apoxyomenos Museum and the work

of the Blue World Institute, which is focused on the protection of endangered marine

species and brings together young scientists in the field of environmental protection. The

island of Lošinj was presented as a health and cultural tourist destination.

The intention of the Croatian Parliament as the organiser was to cause the Conference to

evolve into a parliamentary meeting that will gather parliamentarians from all EU Member

States on an annual basis so as to give greater prominence to the common European

tourism development policy, since in a large number of European countries tourism is a very

important driver of economic development, generating a significant share in the GDP.

The Greek parliamentary delegation acknowledged this initiative and announced at the

closing of the Conference that the Hellenic Parliament will host and organise the second

European Conference on Sustainable Tourism in 2015.

The focus in the addresses and debates at the Conference was placed on the following:

Today, tourism represents a synthesis of different economic branches as a cross-

sectorial industry and a lifestyle of many people, and it is significantly marked and

conditioned by globalisation processes. In addition to the ICT sector, it is one of the

fastest growing industries in the world and one of the important income sources in

many countries.

Long ago tourism stopped being the privilege of the elite travelling to find diversity

and became the possibility of every human being to exercise his/her right to

freedom of movement, giving him/her the opportunity to learn much more about

other cultures and civilisations and respect them more.

European countries have different experiences in tourism development. While some

countries and regions faced on this road many challenges that resulted in excessive

urbanisation, exploitation of resources, endangering of the cultural and especially

architectural heritage, environment pollution and disorders of the biodiversity

system, some other countries started applying principles and standards of

European Interparliamentary Conference on Sustainable Tourism – Conclusions and Recommandations

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sustainable development in time and generate long-term benefits from a balanced

social development.

Interdisciplinary, cross-sectorial nature of tourism provides a huge array of topics

dealt with by business, academic and governance sectors. Sustainable tourism takes

part in many various EU bodies and can be traced in areas promoted by the 2020

strategy as the Flagship initiatives (resource efficiency, innovation, youth, digital

agenda, jobs…). Based on the current diffusion of sustainable tourism practices and

the EU goals related to it, the Conference participants fell that some form of focal

point is needed in order to make knowledge disseminated and policies more

effective in achieving "smart, sustainable, inclusive growth".

A responsible approach of all tourism development stakeholders that implies

observing of the principles of sustainable tourism can contribute to European

countries' coming out of the recession and to the return of both the European Union

and its surrounding to sustainable economic growth and social prosperity.

The creators of national development policies in the EU, including parliaments which

set the legislative frameworks, do not make use to a sufficient extent of their

possibilities of operating with synergy effect as provided by the Lisbon Treaty. Their

cooperation and harmonisation of practices could open new perspectives to

development project holders in presenting Europe as a unique destination in other

markets.

The idea of holding interparliamentary conferences is an important tool for the

coordination of development policies of the countries of the European Union as the

single market and of its surrounding, especially with respect to candidate countries

and countries developing their European perspective.

Setting up a modern institutional framework, encouraging entrepreneurship in the

tourism sector, developing human resources and simplifying administrative

procedures provides the possibility of improving a quality tourist product.

Care for the environment, preserving local traditions, organic farming and regional

interconnection of the tourist offer represent the basis for combined job creation,

sustainable living, environment protection, acceptable preservation of local

traditions and landscapes. Sustainable tourism not only develops the sector, but it

also develops local people and their assets in a sustainable manner, it encourages

ecological development, ecological agriculture and fisheries, keeps rural areas alive

and preserves and protects the environment and the heritage.

Sustainable tourism can and should reduce the adverse effects of tourism

development on the community and the environment to a minimum so as to

produce a positive impact on the local economy, nature protection and affirmation

of cultural heritage and to improve the quality of life of the domestic population and

visitors. Enacting good laws is the basis of sustainable tourism.

European Interparliamentary Conference on Sustainable Tourism – Conclusions and Recommandations

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On the basis of the conducted debates of the representatives of national parliaments and

experts in the field of protection of cultural heritage and environment as well as the

representatives of international organisations, the Conference Chairmanship adopted the

following

CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS:

European countries, respecting all particularities and in keeping the previous different

experiences, can develop tourism more successfully on the basis of common and

harmonised policies, cross-border projects and regional initiatives with the aim of achieving

sustainable tourism, but also sustainable development as a whole.

Knowledge pooling, education and expert exchange, active exchange of experiences and

harmonisation of legislative initiatives for setting up European standards of preservation

and protection of cultural heritage and environment can help, on a long-term basis, improve

the European practice both on professional and political level. The active involvement of

European institutions in this process has proved to be important for its future.

III

The relation of tourism towards the environment and cultural heritage, redefining of

sustainability of development and importance of sustainable and responsible tourism for

the overall development should be the issues on which the focus should be when

contemplating development policies and strategies in tourism. The care and promotion of

heritage (natural, traditional, culinary, linguistic, historical, architectural, cultural etc.)

provide room for launching new and responsible entrepreneur initiatives. The

implementation of such initiatives would create possibilities for opening new jobs, especially

for the employment of young people of various professions who would use their knowledge

to interpret and protect heritage.

National parliaments and governments are advised to take into consideration the great

importance of strengthening cross-sectorial cooperation between tourism and culture when

operating and proposing legislative initiatives. Tourism can contribute to the creation of

jobs, but it cannot act autonomously without continuous and responsible care for cultural

values and heritage at a destination. Tourism can contribute to culture in various ways, one

European Interparliamentary Conference on Sustainable Tourism – Conclusions and Recommandations

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of them being the tourist presentation of cultural heritage, especially in places that have

been proclaimed world heritage sites by the UNESCO. On the other hand, culture can also

contribute to tourism through the development of new forms of tourist offer, cultural

routes or digitalisation of cultural heritage in the form of tourist products. UNWTO and

UNESCO have already taken this direction by signing a Memorandum of Understanding in

2013, thereby committing themselves to joint activities in national, regional and global

initiatives in the fields of sustainable tourism and preservation of natural and cultural

heritage.

In many countries of the Mediterranean belt with increased requirements of a growing

number of tourists significant adverse effects can be observed in the coastal zones. These

primarily include changes of the landscapes, water pollution and over-exploitation of

natural resources. In order to avoid such effects, it is recommended to apply an integrated

coastal zone management by pooling the efforts and capacities of regional and local

communities and coordinating tourism development plans, spatial planning and

environmental protection measures. To this end the Conference emphasises the importance

to apply the Protocol No. 7 of the Barcelona Convention from 2008, addressing in particular

the issue of integrated coastal zone management in the Mediterranean and featuring

guidelines and recommendations that are important for the protection and sustainable

management of coastal zones.

The Conference draws the attention of all the relevant national, regional and local

administrations to the great importance of the implementation of integrated policies that

create the conditions for capacity building of the ‘blue economy’. Parts of the ‘blue

economy’, such as tourism, energy, fisheries, shipbuilding and transportation, employ,

according to data from 2012, around 5.4 million people, with a tendency of further growth

to 7 million jobs by 2020, which is where the opportunity should be seen for development in

general.

VII

Regional cooperation plays a crucial role in the development of tourism. Some advantages

of EU membership are easier access to the EU funds and common market. In this sense, all

Member States are recommended to make efforts that will allow maximum use of the

resources provided, and the countries that are in the process of negotiations on EU

membership are recommended to timely prepare for the use of these development

opportunities.

European Interparliamentary Conference on Sustainable Tourism – Conclusions and Recommandations

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VIII

High standards of environmental and nature protection must not be an obstacle for the

development of tourism, a reason to impair the quality of life, or an excuse for

administrations in hindering the development of entrepreneurship. They must be the basis

for a proactive policy of sustainable and responsible development for the benefit and in the

interests of the local population. Initiatives for sustainable development are expected

primarily from the local level because local communities can recognize best both

development opportunities and potential negative impacts of uncontrolled development of

tourism infrastructure and facilities.

Respecting the impact and consequences of climate changes, that have caused

unpredictable whether situations and threatened seasonal tourist offer in the recent years,

the Conference recommends all the stakeholders in tourism to encourage the diversity of

tourist products and services by developing special or specific forms of tourism featuring

year-round instead of seasonal characteristics. In this sense, it is recommended to rely on

the good practices of those countries that have introduced innovations in the concept of

destination management advocated also by the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO).

On behalf of the Conference Chairmanship:

Goran Beus Richembergh, MP

Chairman of the Committee on Tourism

Croatian Parliament

European Interparliamentary Conference on Sustainable Tourism – Conclusions and Recommandations