EUROPARC @ ETIS Conference, European Comission

On 28th January, European leading experts in sustainable tourism will be together for full-day conference on “Managing and Promoting Sustainable and Accessible Tourism Destinations – ETIS and Accessible Tourism Conference”, organised by the European Commission. Ignace Schops, EUROPARC Federation President, will representing Sustainable Tourism in Protected Areas, with a presentation about the Charter, along with other relevant keynote speakers coming from UNWTO (World Tourism Organization), the European Network for Accessible Tourism and DG GROW.

Since 1993, the European Charter for Sustainable Tourism in Protected Areas (ECST) has been supporting protected areas in defining and implementing a sustainable tourism strategy. Over 140 areas in 17 countries are following the Charter principles, bringing benefits for nature, society and local economy.

20 years later, the European Commission launched the European Tourism Indicator System (ETIS), in order to assess destinations on their sustainability and accessibility performance. Over 200 destinations have been engaged on voluntary basis, testing ETIS between 2013 and 2014. Best practice examples and results will be shared in conference on the 28th January.  The conference will also provide an occasion to hear first-hand accounts on the ETIS assessment from the destinations involved, including representatives from Spain, the Netherlands, France, Montenegro, United Kingdom, Slovenia and the Bulgarian Danube Region, as well as from the Italian urban destination network of Rome, Milano, Florence and Venice.

The agenda and other useful information are available at https://etis-jointconference2016.teamwork.fr/, registrations are mandatory and can be done here.