Tourism and the EU

The first week of July has been very busy with the constitutive session of the eighth European Parliament term and we will keep this pace up next week too. However, for many people, this period of the year coincides with the kick-off of holiday season. At the European Parliament Research Service (EPRS) we celebrate this well-deserved summer break with a thematic week dedicated to Tourism, an economic sector accounting for over 5% of EU GDP and employing an estimated 15.2 million persons.

To be better informed on the importance of tourism for the EU economy as well as EU level supporting initiatives and actions, check the EPRS briefing The European Union and tourism: challenges and policy responses. Should you prefer visual information and figures about tourism industry and trends, you can have a glance at the Tourism update Spotlight, to be published later this week.

The multiple faces of tourism in the EU

The EU territory offers a wide variety of unique opportunities to tourists. Besides historical, natural, cultural, culinary, shopping and many other attractions, major sport events can also contribute to raising the profile of cities and regions as tourist destinations. The keysource The legacies of major sports events offers you plenty of sources on this topic, still a hot one in the last week of football World Cup fever!

Travelling abroad?

According to Eurostat, in 2012 air transport was the preferred means of transport for over half of EU residents travelling abroad. If you are wondering how the evolution of budget airlines has changed the way Europeans travel and the impact on the tourism sector, read the keysource about Low cost carriers in Europe. And, to be informed on what the EU is doing to improve your passenger rights, check the factsheet on Air Passenger Rights – Added Value. Furthermore, to make your travels across the EU even more pleasant, you will be delighted to know that the EU cut price caps for data downloads by more than half from 1 July. One more reason to download or consult on the move while driving abroad, the free European Road Safety App contains all important road safety rules enforced at EU and national level

For your eyes only

Finally, we present you with a selection of books on tourism directly available from the EPRS collection: [intranet access only]

• Low cost carriers : emergence, expansion and evolution / Budd, L., Ison, S.; Farnham: Ashgate Pub Co, 2014
• OECD Tourism Trends and Policies 2014 / OECD iLibrary, 2014 (e-book)
• Contemporary tourism : an international approach / Cooper, C., Hall, C.; Oxford: Goodfellow, 2013

EPRS information specialists monitor what think-tanks and research institutes say and share the most interesting papers on our Policy Area Page on Tourism.
Freshly picked from there:

• Tourism statistics – top destinations / Eurostat, 2014
• European bathing water quality in 2013 / European Environment Agency (EEA), 2014
• Shaping the Future of Travel: Macro Trends Driving Travel Industry Growth Over The Next Decade / Oxford Economics, 2014

To stay informed on tourism issues, MEP’s offices and EP staff can also subscribe to our [intranet access only] e-mail alerts on Tourism to get both our in-house analysis and hand-picked external info sources delivered direct to their inbox.

And last but not least, EPRS wishes you a great summer break!