SEArica event on leisure boating and water-based tourism Developing a truly European and sustainable nautical tourism

SEArica event on leisure boating and water-based tourism

Developing a truly European and sustainable nautical tourism

Hosted by MEP Jan-Christoph Oetjen, SEArica Vice-Chair for Maritime Transport and the North Sea

Organised with the support of the Conference of Peripheral Maritime Regions & of the European Boating Industry

13 July 2022 14:30 – 16:30

Please find HERE the recording of the meeting 

Blue, water-based tourism is widespread across Europe in the coastal and inland environment. Coastal and Maritime Tourism makes up 45% of the GVA and 64% of the employment of the EU Blue economy (Blue Economy Report 2021). Inland waterway tourism on lakes, rivers, and canals also represents a significant sector and in Germany alone, more than €4.2 billion are generated annually by water-based tourism (Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy). Both are vibrant sectors and a key source of employment and economic opportunities for European regions connected to Seas, Rivers, Islands and Coastal Areas. The COVID-19 pandemic, which has encouraged staycations and regional tourism offers significant potential to move towards new tourism opportunities and economic development. Boating and nautical tourism therefore offers substantial potential for sustainable growth. In addition, tourism policy is gaining ground at EU level.

The Council Conclusions on Tourism in Europe for the next decade invite the Commission and Member States to design a European Agenda for Tourism 2030/2050. Tourism is also recognised as one of the hardest-hit sectors from the COVID-19 pandemic, and its transformation a centrepiece of the 2021 Update of the EU’s Industrial Strategy with the Co-creation pathway for the transition of tourism for a more resilient, innovative and sustainable ecosystem presented in early 2022. Coastal and maritime tourism is also part of the new approach for a sustainable blue economy in the EU. However, as recognised by Commissioner Breton in his invitation for the co-creation of transition pathway for tourism, the EU will have to move towards a different kind of tourism compared to the pre-pandemic world.

Please find HERE the recording of the meeting