Tourism is a dynamic and growing industry which contributes to four per cent of the EU GDP with about two million enterprises employing some four per cent of the total labour force, around eight million jobs.
When the links to the other sectors are taken into account, the contribution of tourism to GDP is estimated to be around 11 per cent and it provides employment to more than 12 per cent of the labour force, around 24 million jobs. The sector is dominated by SMEs and besides growth and job creation, tourism plays an important role in the development of the vast majority of European regions. This is due to the infrastructure that is created for tourism purposes, which also contributes to local development and the creation of jobs in areas in industrial or rural decline, or those that are undergoing urban regeneration.
Sustainable tourism plays an important role in the preservation and enhancement of cultural and natural heritage, in an ever-expanding number of areas, ranging from arts to local gastronomy, crafts or the preservation of biodiversity. This led the European Commission and tourism stakeholders to work on the elaboration of a European Agenda 21 for Tourism.
An EU-wide Eurobarometer survey was carried out in February 2009, on the attitude of Europeans towards tourism, analysing trends in travelling for 2009 as well as trends that developed in 2008 and 2007. In 2008 two-thirds of EU citizens embarked on a private trip, where they spent at least one night away from home, whilst 58 per cent took a vacation which is defined as a stay somewhere away from home for at least four consecutive nights.
In the more affluent parts of Europe (most of the EU-15) it is normal for more than 75 per cent of citizens to take at least one trip annually; in the rest of the Union (primarily the post 2004 member states and Portugal) about half of the citizens travel every year. The most popular holiday destinations in 2008 were Spain, Italy, France and Greece. At the time of the survey the proportion of those who were certain that they will not travel in 2009 (19 per cent) was below the proportion of non-travellers in 2008 (32 per cent). It remains to be seen what proportion of the currently undecided ones (28 per cent) will eventually take a holiday. Four in ten Europeans travelled in 2008 and have holiday plans for 2009, however 17 per cent of those that travelled last year are still hesitating about a holiday in 2009 and their decision will be critical for the European tourism industry.
There is also a shift in tourism in a more domestic direction.
In 2008, 43 per cent of respondents took a holiday in their own country whilst 48 per cent said they will take a holiday in their home country in 2009. Less travellers have plans to travel to other EU countries in 2009 than in 2008, whilst more prepare to travel to non-EU destinations, probably due to the increasingly favourable exchange rates for Euro area travellers.
Interestingly, European travellers are more ready to give up their winter holidays if their finances are not sufficient to meet their total holiday plans, while 23 per cent said they would save money by travelling in the low season and another 20 per cent by staying closer to home. Some 12 per cent of travellers would also consider last-minute bookings. A majority (56 per cent) of holiday-makers across the EU said they have organised their main holiday themselves, while 16 per cent have booked travel tickets or accommodation through a travel agency; one fifth have opted for a package tour either through a travel agency or through an online travel provider.
It is also worth noting that Europeans generally prefer non-institutional sources of information about vacation possibilities and the three most preferred sources were partly or totally independent of the tourist industry. 57 per cent also used social networks to obtain information about travel destinations. The internet has clearly become the most influential “non-personal” information source for holiday planning.
Mark Demartino is Information Executive at MEUSAC