Cyprus Forum Summary Report

Cyprus in cooperation with the Finnish Presidency and the European Commission and with the active involvement of stakeholders within the tourism sector, organised the European Tourism Forum 2006 on the 16th and 17th of November 2006 in Limassol, Cyprus.

The Forum this year elaborated upon the new opportunities in the tourism industry for the consumer, the employer, the employee, the investor and the tourist destination.

Delegates discussed New Technologies, New Instruments, Innovative Partnerships and New Market Trends as the main workshop topics, and assisted to a number of presentations and case studies on a variety of issues that included electronic reservations (e-booking), the security of the consumer, timesharing, wellness, cruise tourism, public-private sector partnerships for increasing competitiveness, European Funding Opportunities and partnerships to improve mobility and employability.

• Vice-President and Commissioner responsible for Enterprises and Industry Günter Verheugen addressed participants through a video message in which he reaffirmed the European Commission’s determination to support the competitiveness of European tourism. He emphasized that sustainable tourism is crucial for the preservation and enhancement of Europe’s cultural and natural heritage, whilst re-affirming the Commission’s intention to continue working with all stakeholders in identifying and exchanging good practices at European level.

The Forum, whilst welcoming the contents of the Commissioner’s video message, re-emphasised the willingness and commitment of private stakeholders to work in partnership with the European Commission in promoting the sustainable development of European tourism.

•  Following the debates in the plenary sessions and the three workshops and considering the main findings presented by the Rapporteurs, the participants of the Forum welcomed the following guidelines and orientations for further common consideration:

The European Commission together with all public and private tourism stakeholders is invited in the field of New Technologies to:

• support the technology for managing user generated content and  exploit it
• for enhancing information and the assessment of existing products
• for improving the quality of the offer based on user feedback
• facilitate the aggregation and the inclusion of SME/micro business offers in a way that will reflect the full diversity of the destination’s offers and to support their sustainability in all its aspects (economic, socio-cultural and environmental)
• encourage and facilitate DMOs and other players (e.g. trade marketing associations) to develop full e-business platforms that:

enable all tourism businesses (including small and micro enterprises, intermediaries and carriers) to cooperate in packaging and selling integrated products and experiences, directly or through travel industry distribution channels
offer real-time availability to enable personalised dynamic packaging, based on multiple user profiles

• associate the technological innovations with  organizational  changes and with new business models

The European Commission together with all public and private tourism stakeholders is invited in the field of New Instruments and Innovative Partnerships to:

• ensure that funding in tourism must remain one of the fields of intervention of the structural funds. Information among SME`s at local level about access to funding and financing, as well as access itself, must be optimized.
• highlight that the high level of taxation (taxes, charges, levies and/or fees) is burdening very heavily the European tourism sector. The different taxation levels between Member States might also impair the competitiveness of European tourism. 
• aim for service quality through all available means such as training
• bring concrete benefits to the tourism sector, by facilitating  partnerships at all levels and with all actors, including the social partners, considering their role in the fields of training, employment and professional mobility. From a geographical point of view, this means as well transnational as transregional or even local partnerships.

The European Commission together with all public and private tourism stakeholders is invited in the field of New Market Trends (wellness and SPA tourism, the creative tourism, the time sharing tourism, caravanning and cruising, and others) to:

• aim for behavioural and attitude changes that would prompt a better cooperation with consumers from the very beginning, in order to shape the products and meet tourist expectations.  The creation of new products plays an important role in increasing tourism participation among segments like the young and the elderly.
• highlight that quality in service highly depends on staff and surrounding conditions. The good service of staff is a key for success, therefore better attention to the training of skilled labour is needed especially when new and fast growth sectors and products are developed.
• aim for reliable and harmonised statistics on European tourism for successful investment decisions, alongside better targeted tourism policies.
• ensure that sustainability (including all three pillars – the environmental, social and economical perspective) is the centre of tourism industry and tourism policy through the  involvement of all the stakeholders.

This Forum Summary Report has been acknowledged by the participants of the Forum. It will be sent to the European Commission, the Committee of the Regions, the European Economic and Social Committee, the European Parliament, the Finnish Presidency and the Member States, accession and candidate countries of the European Union, in particular to Germany and Portugal in order to encourage them to continue promoting actions in support of the tourism sector throughout their forthcoming Presidencies in 2007.

The Forum Summary Report will be translated into the working languages of the Forum and made public. The Forum Summary Report will be accessible through the website of the Tourism Unit of the European Commission (http://europa.eu.int/comm/enterprise/services/tourism/index_en.htm) and the website of the Forum (http://www.etfcyprus2006.com.cy).