Sustainable Tourism

Sustainable mountain tourism - linking nature, tradition and people

Mountain tourism is a considerable factor of development and prosperity throughout Europe. Mountainous regions in particular host many renowned tourist destinations, generating employment, economic activity and social integration, while contributing to the development of the local economy, services and infrastructures. At Euromontana we want to show that if promoted in a sustainable way, tourism can even help to preserve natural and cultural heritage.

A new competence of the EU

The most recent Communication of the European Commission from 30th June 2010, “Europe, the World's No 1 tourist destination – a new political framework for tourism in Europe“ outlines a new framework of action, which consists of the following four priorities:

Stimulate competitiveness in the European tourism sector;
Promote the development of sustainable, responsible and high-quality tourism;
Consolidate the image and profile of Europe as a collection of sustainable and high quality destinations;
Maximise the potential of EU financial policies and instruments for developing tourism.

The European Union has acquired only recently competencies in the field of tourism, a sector largely under the responsibility of Member States. The EU has the responsibility for coordination, support and complementation of Member States's actions (Article 6 of the Treaty of the European Union) in this sector. Thus, significant opportunities remain in activities related to networking and exchange of good practices between tourism actors and European regions.

Our actions

Euromontana members are very sensitive to the touristic potential mountain regions have. In this regard, the theme of sustainable tourism was chosen as one of the main working themes for the period 2008-2012.

To ensure that mountain tourism stakeholders take full advantage of new opportunities and meet best tourist's demand, Euromontana addressed the theme of tourism within various events, studies and projects.

Policy - representation

Follow–up of activities at EU level. Euromontana closely follows and informs its members about the European policy development as regards tourism. The main document of the European Commission in this respect is “Europe, the World's No 1 tourist destination” released in 2010. More information: here
Furthermore, Euromontana supports and promotes sustainable tourism in the mountain areas through the exchange of good practices between members, participation and positioning in various events, seminars and public consultations held at European level. The document crystallizing the position of Euromontana can be found here.

Studies

Bearing in mind the importance of tourism for the development of mountain regions, Euromontana is actively compiling knowledge and facilitating networking among its members:

in January 2009, at the request of the French Ministry of Agriculture, Euromontana carried out the study "Improving the attractiveness of rural areas through common strategies" which focused on collective initiatives in the field of culture and tourism in mountain areas.

recently, Veronika Korcekova, trainee within the Euromontana secretariat, undertook research on tourism, with a general approach. The result is the “Background document on sustainable mountain tourism” (October 2010) that is accessible on the tourism documents webpage for Euromontana members only. Access here.

In relation with Commissioner Tajani’s priorities in the promotion of the European tourism sector, Euromontana’s network undertook, at the end of 2010, a survey of national policies supporting mountain tourism enterprises. The study “European policies regarding sustainable mountain tourism”, was carried out in collaboration with Euromontana members and various tourism related stakeholders from 8 countries (Austria, Germany, France, Macedonia, Norway, Spain, Slovakia, Romania). More information on the "tourism documents" webpage, accessible to Euromontana members only. Access here.
A background paper recalling the main players of the tourism industry at world level, the different definitions and key issues of sustainable tourism in mountain areas is available here. This document was distributed in September 2011 as a preparatory document of the conference "Sustainable Active Tourism - mountain communities leading Europe in finding innovative solutions" held in Inverness, Scotland.

Events

In order to foster the capacity-building of tourism actors, we have decided to devote our 2011 annual conference to the issue of sustainable active tourism. The conference "Sustainable active tourism - mountain communities leading Europe in finding innovative solutions" took place in Inverness, Scotland, from 27th to 28th September 2011. The interventions from the plenary sessions as well as all powerpoint presentations done by speakers are available on the conference web-page .

Following this event, a Euromontana position paper to support the development of sustainable mountain tourism initiatives in Europe was realised. It can be found here.

Projects

Euromontana is one partner in the Interreg IVC proposal "Digital Agenda for New ICT Tourism adoption in European Rural and Mountain Areas" (DANTE) developed under the coordination of the Province of Torino in Italy. The project has been submitted to the 3rd INTERREG IVC call on April 1st 2011 and approved. The objectives of the project are to:

Promote inclusive growth in mountain and rural areas at European level by sharing and spreading good practices around the theme of sustainable tourism
Assemble a good practice catalogue around the theme of ICT tools for sustainable tourism in remote areas
Develop a Sustainable Tourism Plan by local governments involved in order to transfer the good practices to be developed in their rural and mountain areas.

The partnership comprises 15 partners from 12 European countries. The project started in early 2012 and its website will be available on-line soon.

Initiatives

A webTV promotes mountain life. Watch it on www.montagnetv.com (in French).

Do you want to develop a tourism project in mountain areas and you look for partners ? contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it