HOTREC position paper ‘A transition pathway for the hospitality sector’
HOTREC welcomes the Commission Staff Working document on “Scenarios towards co-creation pathway for tourism for a more resilient, innovative and sustainable ecosystem”.
The time is right to engage in this kind of reflection and seek new ways of achieving a more resilient, innovative and sustainable tourism ecosystem. We firmly believe that hospitality has a crucial role to play in this area.
Our conclusions in this position paper:
- A more resilient, sustainable and digital tourism and hospitality ecosystem is needed by 2030;
- Short-term, medium-term and long-term measures are essential, as long as necessary, to help the sector overcome the Covid-19 crisis;
- Support the resilience of the sector with the following measures: improve the EU’s capacity to manage shocks affecting travel; implement training mechanisms; follow health and safety protocols at national level; create a diversified touristic offer;
- When it comes to sustainability, our priorities are to tackle the carbon footprint; promote the renovation wave; develop sustainable skills for employees and managers; avoid food waste; promote sustainable coastal tourism; extend the season;
- Tourism digitalisation needs to count with: a fairer relationship between hospitality businesses and online intermediaries; a specific EU initiative on Short Term Rentals (STR) to level the playing field within the accommodation domain; improvement of digital skills; mobilisation of data via public-private partnerships;
- To implement these objectives, EU and national funding must be easily deployed for SMEs and micro-enterprises to access it.
You can read and download the full position paper here.