Answer to Parliamentary Question: Decline in tourism in the EU

Publication date: 20 May 2009

WRITTEN QUESTION by Margaritis Schinas (EPP-ED) to the Commission 

Subject: Decline in tourism in the EU

According to recently published Eurostat statistics, overnight stays by tourists in European countries whose economies are based on tourism fell significantly in 2008. For instance, tourism fell in Greece by 4.6 %, in Cyprus by 4.8 % and in the Netherlands by 4.1 %.

Is the Commission aware of these statistics?

Given the enormous importance of tourism as a factor of economic development in EU Member States, what measures does the Commission intend to take to boost tourism, especially in view of the economic crisis, and how does it view the possibility of supporting tourism by proactive intervention measures?

Answer given by Mr Verheugen on behalf of the Commission

According to the information received from Member States, the crisis seems to be hitting Member States differently or with a time lag, as several Member States still report positive tourism results for 2008. The impact of the present economic situation seems therefore to be slower on the tourism industry than on many other branches.

As a first step, in order to have a clearer picture of the current economic situation and its impact on the European tourism demand, a Flash Eurobarometer survey was conducted in February 2009. The survey concentrated mainly on demand aspects such as:

- General information on European tourists’ behaviour patterns;
- Information about changes in tourism spending (with a view to the current economic situation);
- European tourists’ preferences for specific types of destinations;
- Outlook on holiday intentions for 2009.
 
The results of the Flash Eurobarometer show that most of the European citizens still intend to go on holidays, showing however a tendency towards spending them in or closer to their home country. Furthermore, a growing trend towards last-minute bookings was registered. The full report on the Eurobarometer survey on "the attitudes of Europeans towards tourism" is published at: http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/tourism/index_en.htm.

Moreover, at present, a consultation of small and medium-sized tourist enterprises (SMEs), especially with the key industry sectors, is being undertaken in order to get more information on how the industry perceives the impacts of the current economic and financial situation. This survey is conducted via the SME Panel of the Enterprise Europe Network.

The results of the above-mentioned surveys will be incorporated and further analysed in the framework of a study on the competitiveness of the European tourism industry whose draft final report should be available by July 2009.

Tourism industry is dominated by SMEs and in particular small and micro enterprises, with about 2 million enterprises employing about 4% of the total labour force in Europe (8 million jobs).

The tourism sector is thus one of the prime beneficiaries of the measures taken in the framework of the European Small Business Act and in particular of the implementation of the Action Plan approved by the December Competitiveness Council. Two of the measures are particularly relevant in view of the economic crisis. First, the European Investment Bank substantially increased the volume of its SME loan product implemented via partner banks in Member States. Second, both under normal State aid rules and under the conditions of the exceptional Temporary Framework[1], Member States are allowed to grant certain public support, among others, also for the tourism sector. The exceptional Temporary Framework in fact allows companies which are particularly affected by the lack of access to finance due to the financial crisis to benefit from temporary relief.

Finally, other opportunities are available for SMEs within the range of EU programmes[2].

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[1]     http://ec.europa.eu/competition/state_aid/overview/tackling_economic_crisis.html

[2]     An overview of the main EU programmes available for SMEs is offered by the European Portal for SMEs: http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/sme/index_en.htm.

Source: European Parliament