The new European sustainable tourism strategy sets out plans to develop digital tools, train staff and manage tourist destinations more effectively. A particular emphasis is placed on the competitiveness of small and medium-sized enterprises, extending the tourist season and reducing pressure on the most visited destinations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On 4 November 2026, the European Commission presented the new EU Sustainable Tourism Strategy, which aims to strengthen the competitiveness of European tourism and address the problems that have been weighing on the sector for years. A shortage of labour, rising operating costs, climate change and the over-concentration of tourists in certain destinations are just some of the challenges Brussels aims to address with a common European approach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For tourism companies, the strategy envisages easier access to knowledge, digital technologies and data, while destinations should be provided with additional tools to manage tourist flows.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to data from the European Commission, tourism supports more than 20 million jobs and involves approximately five million businesses in the EU. As many as 99 per cent of these businesses are small and medium-sized enterprises, which explains why they are among the main target groups of the new strategy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One of the most important initiatives announced is the establishment of the European Tourism Academy (EU Tourism Academy), which is intended to help employees and businesses acquire new professional expertise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
European tourism has long been facing difficulties in recruiting qualified staff. At the same time, the digitalisation of business is creating a need for new competencies, from data management to the application of artificial intelligence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Academy should support professional development, the development of appropriate skills and greater attractiveness of careers in tourism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For hoteliers, travel agencies and other service providers, this could mean better long-term access to educational programmes tailored to the industry's real needs. However, the details of how to participate and the availability of individual programmes have yet to be worked out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Commission plans to develop the European Tourism Observatory (EU Tourism Observatory) and the Common European Tourism Data Space.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The aim is to enable the more effective collection, exchange and analysis of data that can help tourism businesses and public institutions in making business decisions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For example, more reliable data on tourist demand, seasonality and visitor movements could help destinations plan infrastructure and manage tourist flows. Hotels and other tourism businesses could use such data to plan capacity, offerings and business activities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The strategy also provides for an initiative to simplify administrative requirements in tourism, which is particularly important for smaller businesses with limited human and financial resources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These are planned measures, not systems that are already fully available to all tourism operators.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One of the more significant changes in the European approach to tourism concerns the way in which the performance of destinations is measured.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Instead of focusing exclusively on increasing the number of arrivals and overnight stays, the European Commission wants to pay greater attention to the benefits that tourism brings to the local population, the economy and the environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To this end, a European model for tourism management, recommendations for balanced tourism development and a set of practical tools with which destinations could more effectively manage visitor numbers have been announced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Such an approach is particularly interesting for Mediterranean destinations, which record an exceptionally high concentration of tourists during the summer months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Commission also wants to encourage travel outside the main season and increase tourist demand in lesser-known areas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It is important to emphasise that the new strategy does not, by itself, introduce general limits on the number of tourists or a single European tourist levy. The proposed instruments are intended to help states and destinations select measures tailored to local circumstances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For Croatia, the issue of balanced tourism development is particularly important. According to new estimates by the European Commission's Joint Research Centre (JRC), the total economic impact of tourism in Croatia exceeds 20 per cent of gross value added, when the effects on suppliers and the consumption generated by tourism revenues are included alongside direct receipts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This places Croatia among the European countries where tourism has a particularly strong impact on the economy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The new strategy could be beneficial for Croatian tourist destinations seeking to extend the season, increase guest spending and reduce pressure on local infrastructure during the summer months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For Slovenia, Austria, Germany and other European countries, initiatives aimed at better transport connectivity, digitalisation and the development of tourist products that are not exclusively tied to the main season are also relevant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The European Commission places particular emphasis on multimodal travel, that is, the easier linking of different modes of transport. Such an approach could be beneficial for coastal, island and more remote destinations, where the availability of transport links directly affects tourism competitiveness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Alongside the presentation of the strategy, approximately \u20ac18 billion in European support for tourism was also mentioned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, that amount does not represent a new fund dedicated solely to the implementation of the strategy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This refers to the estimated total support for the tourism sector through existing European funding programmes for the 2021\u20132027 period, including the Cohesion Policy, the Recovery and Resilience Facility, and the Horizon Europe and Single Market programmes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to European Commissioner for Sustainable Transport and Tourism Apostolos Tzitzikostas, the sector should receive approximately the stated amount by the end of that financial period.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For tourism entrepreneurs, this means that funding opportunities still depend on individual programmes, their conditions and the available calls for applications. The mere publication of the strategy does not automatically open new calls for funding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The new European strategy is, for now, a framework for future activities rather than a set of regulations that immediately change the day-to-day operations of hotels, travel agencies and other tourism businesses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The European Commission has yet to elaborate on certain initiatives in more detail, from a tourism academy and digital systems to destination management instruments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Therefore, it will be important for the tourism sector to monitor the publication of implementation plans, concrete programmes and funding opportunities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It will be particularly interesting to see how accessible the announced tools will be to smaller companies. They make up almost the entire structure of the European tourism economy, yet often have the fewest resources for investing in technology, employee training and adapting to new market demands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Nova europska strategija odr\u017eivog turizma donosi planove za razvoj digitalnih alata, obrazovanje zaposlenika i u\u010dinkovitije upravljanje turisti\u010dkim destinacijama. Poseban naglasak stavljen je na konkurentnost malih i srednjih poduze\u0107a, produljenje turisti\u010dke sezone i smanjenje pritiska na najposje\u0107enija odredi\u0161ta. Europska komisija predstavila je 4. studenoga 2026. novu…<\/p>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":8683,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_tragento_display_category":0,"footnotes":"","rank_math_title":"","rank_math_description":"","rank_math_focus_keyword":"","_aioseop_title":"","_aioseop_description":""},"categories":[102,157,106,143,89],"tags":[69,200,77],"class_list":["post-13225","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-agencije","category-dmc","category-touroperatori","category-turistickaindustrija","category-vijesti","tag-analize","tag-eu","tag-trendovi-2026"],"yoast_head":"\n