European Tourism Forum 2011

2011.11.28 European Tourism Forum

The leading topic of the European Tourism Forum in Kraków was “Stimulating competitiveness in the European tourism sector”. The Forum sought answers to the question of how to improve the competitiveness of European tourism enterprises. Out of the many factors affecting their competitiveness, two were focused upon as key contributors to competitiveness: access to knowledge and information and modern technologies including, in particular, state-of-the-art information and communication technologies. The presentations and discussions during the Forum allowed to determine what information is sought by tourism market stakeholders, what information is available and how to facilitate the access to the information. The establishment, at EU level, of the Virtual Tourism Observatory and the platform “Information and Communication Technologies and Tourism” will undoubtedly contribute to improving the availability of information and knowledge sought by tourism market operators. More »

An important event accompanying the European Tourism Forum was the signature of Poland’s declaration of participation in the project “50 000 Tourists”. The project aims to increase tourist exchange between the EU and South American countries. Its implementation will start in October 2012. The project is one of the actions foreseen in the Commission Communication “Europe, the world’s No. 1 tourist destination - a new political framework for tourism in Europe”. The project’s objectives are to counteract seasonality in tourism, increase the number of jobs, strengthen the image of Europe and enhance cooperation with South American 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.

On 16 December 2011 in Warsaw the Ministry of Sport and Tourism will hold an international conference on the European Commission pilot project “50 000 Tourists”. The aim of the conference is to present the project, together with its key assumptions and expected results, to the tourist industry. The conference is addressed to the Polish tourist industry, the hospitality sector, airlines and South American countries’ embassies in Poland. During the Conference, presentations will be delivered by e.g. representatives of the European Commission, European Travel Agents' and Tour Operators' Associations (ECTAA), European Tour Operators Association (ETOA) and embassies of Argentina, Brazil, and Chile.