29 Amendments of István UJHELYI related to 2014/2241(INI)
Amendment 10 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B
Recital B
B. whereas tourism is a key sector of the European economy, which generates over 10 % of the EU’s GDP if sectors linked to tourism are taken into account and directly employs 13 million workers;
Amendment 12 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C
Recital C
C. whereas Europe is the world’s number one tourism destination holding a market share of 52 %; whereas forecasts see numbers of international tourists arriving in the EU increasing by 140 million each year until 2025;
Amendment 15 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C a (new)
Recital C a (new)
Ca. whereas tourism represents a major socio-economic activity in the European Union with wide-ranging impact on economic growth, employment and social developments and could be therefore instrumental in addressing the current economic and employment crisis;
Amendment 16 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C b (new)
Recital C b (new)
Cb. whereas tourism policy priorities contribute to, at least, three priorities of the Juncker Commission, namely to ‘Sustainable growth and jobs’, ‘Connected Digital Single Market’ and ‘Deeper and fairer Internal Market’;
Amendment 20 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D
Recital D
D. whereas the tourism industry in Europe faces a number of new challenges, among them the digitalisation of distribution channels, the increasing competition from emerging destinations and the new sharing economy sector;
Amendment 36 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F a (new)
Recital F a (new)
Fa. whereas European cultural tourism plays an important role in the promotion of Europe’s rich cultural diversity, strengthens European identity and promotes cross-cultural exchanges and multicultural understanding;
Amendment 51 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Amendment 68 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4a. Emphasises the importance of coordination among the Commissions services and departments;
Amendment 81 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Strongly encourages the Commission, in cooperation with the European Travel Commission (ETC), to further contribute to the joint promotion of Europe as the world’s top tourist destination under the umbrella of a common European holistic approach and positioning; calls on the responsible authorities to raise political awareness of the importance of inbound tourism for the European economy;
Amendment 84 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5a. Recalls the potential of third countries with a large population and an emerging middle class, particularly the BRIC countries, where the number of outbound tourists is rising; points out the need for more flexibility in tourist visa arrangements in order to avoid a loss of potential visitors and consequently an economic loss;
Amendment 88 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Calls in particular for the creation of a ‘Brand Destination Europe’ with the aim of complementing and enhancing the promotional activities of Member States, national tourism organisations and the European tourism industry, especially in long-haul markets, for the benefit of the visibility of European tourism destinations at national, regional and local level;
Amendment 98 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Recognises, however, that a clear definition and the potential of a Brand Destination Europe has to be further developed; recommends the elaboration of a kind of SWOT model (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) of the European tourism industry and the setting up of a Brand manual, which should specify agreed promotion modalities; calls on the Member States to cooperate constructively in order to achieve this objective; , for instance by developing cooperative marketing tools and strategies, in order to achieve this objective; underlines the importance of public-private partnerships and suggests therefore the elaboration of a Special Partnership of Tourism (S.P.O.T.) programme;
Amendment 106 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7 a (new)
Paragraph 7 a (new)
7a. Calls for better use to be made of the opportunities digitalisation and innovation could afford for more effective promotion of European tourism;
Amendment 143 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. BUnderlines that Europe’s diversity and multiculturalism offer great potential for the development of thematic tourism; believes furthermore that targeted tourist products which offer a specific tourism experience are more promising in helping to overcome seasonality in Europe than tourism products targeting specific age groups (e.g. seniors and young people); Encourages initiatives to connect tourist attractions to one another in order to establish thematic tourist products and trails on a European, national, regional and local scale, exploiting the complementarity and specificities of the various European tourist attractions so as to provide the best possible experience for tourists; calls on the Commission, therefore, to review the objectives for action under the COSME programme;
Amendment 150 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 a (new)
Paragraph 10 a (new)
10a. Stresses that cultural events could contribute to the attractiveness of tourism destinations and therefore there is a need to organise and promote local, regional, national and international cultural events; Suggests to examine the possibility of creating a European calendar of events, integrated on the VisitEurope.com portal, in order to improve tourism information services, so that tourists can easily find information about exhibitions, festivals, sporting events and other cultural events;
Amendment 157 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Is convinced that a transition must be made in European tourism from a model ofboth quantitative growth to aand qualitative model that poiy services are importants to steady and sustainable development, and that there is, in fact, a need to build a tourist industry that allows more jobs also including more qualified jobs to be created;
Amendment 161 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 a (new)
Paragraph 11 a (new)
11a. Considers that the initiative of the Hotelstars Union to harmonise gradually the accommodation classification systems across Europe should be further promoted, thus allowing for a better comparison of the accommodation offer in Europe, and therefore contributing to common quality services criteria;
Amendment 166 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 a (new)
Paragraph 11 a (new)
11a. Calls on the Commission to carry out a study on the impact of taxes and levies raised on tourism products and services at local, regional, national and European level on the competitiveness of Europe as a destination; Calls on the Member States on the importance of reducing VAT rates on travel and tourism services helping develop local economies and sustain growth and jobs, as well as helping Europe remain competitive on the global market;
Amendment 178 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13 a (new)
Paragraph 13 a (new)
13a. Takes the view that statistics on employment in the tourism sector should be improved;
Amendment 179 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13 a (new)
Paragraph 13 a (new)
13a. Is concerned with the existing skill mismatches on the labour market in the tourism industry, and with the lack of interest among young people to pursue careers in certain tourism sectors; recalls that investing in human capital is essential for the quality of tourism services and it is a precondition for sustainable and competitive growth; calls on the Commission therefore to support the tourism sector’s efforts to upgrade employers’ and employees’ skills and competences in order to anticipate future trends and skills needs; stresses the need to invest in education and training, with specific attention to higher qualifications and soft skills development, in order to improve job prospects across the sector, and to motivate young people to consider a career in the tourism industry;
Amendment 215 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16 a (new)
Paragraph 16 a (new)
16a. Emphasises the crucial role played by European tourism in the regeneration of rural and urban areas, in order to achieve a sustainable local and regional development;
Amendment 224 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17
Paragraph 17
17. Emphasises that natural heritage and biodiversity protection are a precious capital for the tourism sector, and therefore supports the Member States and the regional authorities in promoting eco- tourism and respecting EU environmental legislation when deciding on and executing infrastructure projects; supports the development of non-motorised travel routes (for walking, horse-riding or cycling), which facilitate sustainable tourism;
Amendment 265 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20
Paragraph 20
20. Stresses that accessibility in tourism is an integral part of its sustainability and; takes the view that the ‘tourism for all’ principle needs to be the reference for any national, regional, local or European tourism- related action, by taking into account the special needs of people with disabilities, families with children and older persons, needs to be made more universal by adapting the facilities and services on offer accordingly with certain constraints of the tourism sector like heritage buildings or lack of the necessary financial aid or fiscal incentives;
Amendment 298 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23
Paragraph 23
23. Stresses that the activities of providers need to be correctly categorised in order to distinguish clearly between informal, ad- hoc and permanent sharing and professional business services, where appropriate regulations should apply;
Amendment 300 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23 a (new)
Paragraph 23 a (new)
23a. Considers that security, safety and health regulation applicable to the traditional tourism sector should also apply to tourism services provided on a commercial basis in the sharing economy;
Amendment 306 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25
Paragraph 25
25. Emphasises that the technology companies acting as facilitatorintermediaries need to inform their providers about their obligations and how to remain fullybest possible ensure their compliantce with local laws;
Amendment 319 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 28
Paragraph 28
28. Is aware of the fact that SMEs (mostly being microenterprises) in the tourism sector face considerable difficulties in adapting to the fast-changing market conditions; notes that new IT tools such as the Tourism-IT business support portal and the TourismLink platform will help them take advantage of the digital opportunities;
Amendment 328 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 30
Paragraph 30
30. Calls on the Commission to undertake a research study on the evolution of the digital travel marketplace with a view to identifying policies to ensureto encourage policies to ensure fair competition and a level playing field for travel companies along the whole value chain and protecting consumers by providing for transparency and neutrality when they search for, plan and book travel products and services;
Amendment 334 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 32
Paragraph 32
32. Calls on the Commission to ensure that service providers are given fair and equal access to relevant data by travel and transport operators in order to facilitate the deployment of digital multimodal information and ticketing services and to be able to further optimise their services to the benefit of the consumers;