Limited short-term rentals and more connected transport: the EU strategy for sustainable tourism

Better connectivity to emerging destinations. Targeted support for the leasing of electric vehicles. An integrated and seamless transportation ticketing system. These are the three possible ingredients for a sustainable development of tourism in the European Union, according to MEPs. Today, Wednesday 18 March, the Committee on Transport and Tourism (Tran) adopted a set of proposals on how to improve connectivity, preserve cultural heritage and promote local excellence within the European tourism sector, with 33 votes in favour, 4 against and 4 abstentions. The European Union, on the other hand, is a world leader in the tourism sector and the world's leading tourist destination, with some 12.3 million people employed in this sector, contributing 10.5% to the EU's gross domestic product.

Of primary importance, in Europe, as in Italia and many other parts of the world, is to counteract tourist overcrowding by diversifying the offer: 80% of travellers, in fact, visit only 10% of global destinations. The objective of a sustainable tourism project should be to relieve pressure on overcrowded locations and redirect visitors to lesser-known, emerging or remote destinations, such as rural areas, mountainous areas or isolated regions. Experiences of gastronomic, wine and food tourism,beer, cultural, cycling and regenerative tourism can create new opportunities for under-visited destinations, extend the travel period beyond the high season and generate additional revenue, the MEPs stressed.

Fundamental to this is an improvement in connections and transport. In particular, the Commission was asked to identify, in its forthcoming EU strategy for sustainable tourism, a specific support mechanism to strengthen air, sea and land connections and accessibility to non-mainstream destinations. Other measures recommended by MEPs include targeted support for electric vehicle leasing and recharging infrastructure, more cross-border night trains and rapid implementation of a seamless, integrated ticketing system for rail, air and maritime services.

The non-binding resolution, which will have to be voted by the Parliament in its entirety (supposedly in the April session), welcomes the new European rules onshort-term rentals, in force as of 20 May, considering them a step towards a more effective management of tourist destinations. However, MEPs believe that even more needs to be done to prevent the uncontrolled growth and commercialisation of short-term rentals from leading to loss of authenticity, local housing problems and displacement of residents. They therefore called for a new European regulatory framework for short-term rentals that defines service provision standards, clarifies categories of hosts and allows Member States to limit the number of overnight stays by visitors or to introduce licensing or zoning schemes.

Again with a view to greatersustainability and accessibility of the tourism sector, MEPs pointed out that several cities and regions in the European Union have already introducedeco-taxes that can serve as a source of funding for projects that benefit local residents and the environment. Sharing the results of such initiatives with other EU countries and regions, which are looking for ways to invest in sustainable tourism, would also be desirable in order to make the fight against hit-and-run tourism more homogeneous across Europe.