The political cycle 2019-2024 has arguably been one of the most turbulent for the EU. Incoming in 2019, there were promises of a geopolitical European Commission, a “man on the moon” moment with the announcement of the European Green Deal and even legislation on Artificial Intelligence within 100 days.
Within months of these pledges being made to the citizens of Europe however, the EU saw the UK leave the Union and we faced a global shutdown as the COVID-19 pandemic ripped around the world. This brought true devastation to the people working in the Travel & Tourism sector. Last year, Travel and Tourism contributed nearly 9% of the EU’s GDP, providing people with 21.77 million jobs (a 10.5% share of global jobs). It was also responsible for EUR 384.7 billion of international visitor spending, and EUR 809.2 billion for domestic visitor spending (i.e.
tourism within the EU).
As COVID-19 began to come under control, we then saw the start of the devasting war in Ukraine, with a knock-on effect on energy prices. This hit the core of how our sector operates, from cruises to aeroplanes to hotels - keeping on the lights and keeping people warm. An increase in inflation also added to employment costs in a sector that was only just starting to recover from a global pandemic. For a sector responsible for 1 in 10 jobs in the EU prior to the pandemic, this again negatively impacted our sector.
In addition to the global challenges, our members increasingly had to be aware of, and engage in, a plethora of legislation coming from the European Commission. Our members welcome and support the aims and ambitions of the Fit for 55 packages and are striving to reduce their environmental impacts. Our members have dedicated much time and resources to working with decision-makers to bring this package to reality.
As we start to look ahead to the next political cycle, we need to ensure that a pragmatic approach is taken to implementation. In this respect, we have three key asks of the next European Commission, set out below. These asks will not happen without the right people, being in the right jobs, as the labour shortages in our sector must be addressed.
Alongside these three key asks, it’s also important that we see continuity between political cycles, and that any work on files that haven’t yet been published – including the forthcoming proposal on the Digitalisation of Travel Documents – is taken forward into the next political mandate.
The political cycle 2019-2024 has arguably been one of the most turbulent for the EU. Incoming in 2019, there were promises of a geopolitical European Commission, a “man on the moon” moment with the announcement of the European Green Deal and even legislation on Artificial Intelligence within 100 days.
Within months of these pledges being made to the citizens of Europe however, the EU saw the UK leave the Union and we faced a global shutdown as the COVID-19 pandemic ripped around the world. This brought true devastation to the people working in the Travel & Tourism sector. Last year, Travel and Tourism contributed nearly 9% of the EU’s GDP, providing people with 21.77 million jobs (a 10.5% share of global jobs). It was also responsible for EUR 384.7 billion of international visitor spending, and EUR 809.2 billion for domestic visitor spending (i.e.
tourism within the EU).
As COVID-19 began to come under control, we then saw the start of the devasting war in Ukraine, with a knock-on effect on energy prices. This hit the core of how our sector operates, from cruises to aeroplanes to hotels - keeping on the lights and keeping people warm. An increase in inflation also added to employment costs in a sector that was only just starting to recover from a global pandemic. For a sector responsible for 1 in 10 jobs in the EU prior to the pandemic, this again negatively impacted our sector.
In addition to the global challenges, our members increasingly had to be aware of, and engage in, a plethora of legislation coming from the European Commission. Our members welcome and support the aims and ambitions of the Fit for 55 packages and are striving to reduce their environmental impacts. Our members have dedicated much time and resources to working with decision-makers to bring this package to reality.
As we start to look ahead to the next political cycle, we need to ensure that a pragmatic approach is taken to implementation. In this respect, we have three key asks of the next European Commission, set out below. These asks will not happen without the right people, being in the right jobs, as the labour shortages in our sector must be addressed.
Alongside these three key asks, it’s also important that we see continuity between political cycles, and that any work on files that haven’t yet been published – including the forthcoming proposal on the Digitalisation of Travel Documents – is taken forward into the next political mandate.
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