Ministers of Tourism discussed Commission's Tourism and Transport Package

In today's video-conference Ministers of Tourism discussed coordinated action in the implementation of the European Commission's Tourism and Transport i Package and the possibilities for ministers to contribute to the discussions on the Recovery Plan.

Croatian Presidency organized the second videoconference of Ministers of Tourism aimed at exchanging views and positions on the Commission’s Package of guidelines and recommendations for tourism and transport. The Package intends to help Member States to gradually lift travel bans and allow tourism businesses to reopen after several months of a lockdown, in accordance with the epidemiologic recommendations.

"I am glad that all structures have united quickly and efficiently and that the Tourism and Transport Package has been presented with guidelines and recommendations on how to safely continue to travel and restart European tourism in 2020, but also afterwards. Therefore, exchanges of opinion at the ministerial level, with the involvement of the departments of internal affairs, transport and health, are extremely important in establishing normal movement and thus the revitalization of tourism in Europe. Further cooperation at EU level is important in order to jointly plan the development of scenarios for relaxing measures and relaunching and re-designing the future of tourism, encouraging the tourism sector to be creative and adaptable to change. The relaunch of this sector should be used to apply the principles of sustainable development in destinations, with the support of digital technologies, because tourism is crucial as a source of much-needed income for local communities and individuals."

Gari Cappelli, Croatian Minister of Tourism

Representatives from all Member States participated in the video-conference, alongside with the Commissioner for Internal Market Thierry Breton i, who presented the Package of Guidelines and the Commissioner for Transport Adina Vălean i.

The tourism sector expects an appropriate support within the European Recovery Plan, due to the importance of the tourism for the recovery of the economy. Ministers also emphasised the importance of continuation of the dialogue among Member States and the necessity of defining the deadlines and conditions for the implementation of the Package, because of the fast approaching summer season and the mounting pressure from tourist service providers.