12 October 2010: The Council of Competitiveness Ministers of the EU met in Luxembourg, on 12 October 2010, to consider a new EU policy on tourism, which includes climate change considerations.

The Council agreed that actions in support of tourism should be organized on the basis of the four axes outlined by the Commission: stimulating competitiveness in the European tourism sector; promoting the development of sustainable, responsible and high-quality tourism; consolidating the image and profile of Europe as a collection of sustainable and high-quality destinations; and maximising the potential of EU policies and existing financial instruments for developing tourism.

In its conclusions, the Council acknowledges the need to improve the tourism-related socioeconomic knowledge base on climate change, among other issues, with a view to providing useful information to the industry’s strategies and the policies of public authorities, while avoiding unnecessary administrative burdens. It also underscores that the tourism industry faces a number of challenges, including climate and demographic changes, pressure on biodiversity, the growing impact of information and communication technologies (ICTs) and increasing global competition, while the industry needs to recover from the effects of the global economic crisis. [Council Conclusions]