In the future, a European single market for data will play a major role in Europe’s digital sovereignty, competitiveness, and sustainable growth. For this reason, the European Commission laid out the European Data Strategy, envisaging the free flow of data within and across sectors in the EU supported by the establishment of Data Spaces for key sectors of the European economy, tourism is one of them. This Blueprint provides the details for establishing an interoperable European Tourism Data Space (ETDS) that facilitates efficient cross-sector data sharing among all tourism stakeholders in Europe. The objective of the ETDS is to provide a trusted data-sharing environment that will foster innovation by supporting collaboration and community building for data-driven value creation in tourism and its interconnected sectors. The expected outcomes will enhance visitor experiences, improve tourism management, and support the decision-making of stakeholders. The ETDS will also stimulate innovation and have a positive impact on the future of tourism by promoting the digital transformation of tourism SMEs and supporting the scaling of sustainable tourism practices.

This document is the collaborative effort of the DATES and DSFTF projects, the two Coordination and Support Actions (CSAs) responsible for the preparatory actions for the data space for tourism. In addition to providing the Blueprint for establishing the ETDS and a roadmap for its implementation, this document is also intended to serve as an entry point for understanding the core frameworks and building blocks upon which the data space concept is based. While the essential descriptions of the ETDS components are included, this Blueprint is not meant to serve as an exhaustive reference. Instead, whenever possible links to additional resources are provided for those readers seeking greater detail.

The ETDS Blueprint presents a conceptual framework that defines the core conditions for semantic interoperability, technical reference architecture components, governance principles, business models and data stewardship structures to facilitate efficient data sharing based on European values and rights.

The document provides guidance for:

• Creating the ETDS
• Onboarding ETDS participants
• Addressing additional requirements to ensure the success of the ETDS (e.g., an initiative/organisation and communication platform to coordinate semantic interoperability aspects and the standardisation processes on a European level, bringing national, regional, and local data sharing initiatives together and ideally consolidating them).

1. Executive Summary
2. Introduction
3. Data within the European Tourism Industry: State of the Art
4. Governance Requirements for the European Data Space for Tourism
5. European Tourism Data Space technical specifications
6. Business Models for the European Tourism Data Space
7. Defining the Minimum Viable Data Space for the European Tourism Data Space: Use Cases
8. Recommendations for the European Tourism Data Space (including a roadmap for its deployment)