There were calls for tourism to become an integral facet of EU policy, and for the creation of a European Tourism body at the 1st European Tourism Islands Convention which was held on Gran Canaria on 1st to 2nd December. A delegation from the Region of Crete were among those present.

According to a press release from the Cretan Regional Authority, the common position of the convention was that “tourism is a key sector of the economy of the European continent, which is a world leader in tourism, and to maintain this supremacy, tourism needs to be declared a Common Policy of the EU.”

At the same time, the Convention proposed “the creation of a European Tourism body, which would give priority to multinational strategic projects in European funding and would promote the funding of touristic projects, especially in support of the islands which are most afflicted by the crisis.”

The Region of Crete’s delegation comprised Kyriakos Kostoglou, Deputy Regional Governor for Tourism and Electronic Government; Eirini Dimou, President of the Department of Business Administration and Tourism of the Hellenic Mediterranean University; and Alexandros Angelopoulos, CEO of Aldemar Resorts and vice-president of the Heraklion Hoteliers Union.

Representing Crete, Mr Kostoglou, said: “By itself, a convention where you see representatives from the Balearics with 16 million visitors, but also the Azores and Madeira and the other island powers of Europe and their proposals, is of tremendous interest.

“In addition, the aims and the final declaration of the convention express the anxiety that the consequences of pandemics, war and chiefly climate change will come more quickly and more aggressively to the islands and for that reason we need to move forward more quickly with a common European Tourism Policy. We have come out wiser from this conference and we propose that the next meeting should take place in Crete in 2023.”

The Convention committed itself to drawing up a Strategic Plan for 2023, which would place the European Islands at at the top of the EU’s agenda in the urgent fight against climate change, through a new common European Tourism Policy and a European Tourist Service, setting the date for a new Islands Convention in October of next year.

The participants

In addition to Crete, representatives from Sardinia, Gozo, Cyprus, the Canaries and the Balearic Islands, Corsica, Martinique, Guadalupe and Reunion, Madeira and the Azores and the French Guiana region, were present.