Sustainability top of EU presidential tourism agenda

Hungary European presidency calls top level tourism meeting to discuss sustainable and responsible tourism

Tourism is important to Hungary, not only because it is a big export earner and could be bigger, but also because the country has a great depth of expertise in the subject – Hungary’s president was in the business as an hotel manager for 17 years. Writes Valere Tjolle from Budapest

So, when the meeting was arranged by president Dr. Pál Schmitt, you could be sure of really informed presentations and a high level of debate.

Most importantly, of the two day conference’s 4 sessions entited "Sustainable and responsible tourism as a contributor to quality of life”, 3 concentrated on the issue of sustainable and responsible tourism.

Top level attendee contributors included Taleb Rifai UNWTO Secretary General, Ms. Michela Vittoria Brambilla Italian Minister of Tourism (And president of the UNWTO), Mr. Antonio Tajani, Vice-President of the European Commission, Pedro Ortún, European Commission, DG Enterprise and Industry, Director for Tourism, CSR, Consumer Goods and International Regulatory Agreements Prof. Dr. Zoltán Cséfalvay, Minister of State for Economic Strategy, Hungarian Ministry for National Economy– and, of course, the president himself.

Topics for discussion around building a more sustainable and responsible European  tourism sector included:  CSR practices in the Hotel Industry, A Code of Practice on Environment Oriented Sustainability, Measuring, Mapping and Marketing Certified. Responsible behaviour of tourists in destinations, UNEP’s “Green Passport – Holidays for a living planet”, How to communicate the need of responsible attitude and behaviour in tourism Building a more sustainable and responsible tourism sector and challenges and opportunities for Europe.

The beginning of the meeting discussed the dramatically growing health and wellness tourism sector.

The background to the meeting was the recent spate of directives from the European Union firmly placing sustainable tourism top of the agenda to keep European tourism top of the world sales league.

Held in the magnificent Hungarian parliament building, the stakeholders meeting certainly produced erudite discussions and will contribute to the strengthening of sustainability in European tourism.

For full details of the meetings and updates, moderators and rapporteur’s reports visit: www.tourism2011budapest.eu

Valere Tjolle
Valere Tjolle is editor of the Sustainable Tourism Report Suite – special offers HERE