NECSTouR is a network of European regions committed to sustainable and competitive tourism. It represents regional authorities and tourism associations. The document summarizes NECSTouR's activities promoting regional cooperation, research, and contributing to EU tourism policy. Key areas discussed include sustainable tourism indicators, innovation, accessibility, climate change mitigation, and ongoing/closed/awarded projects involving member regions.

1. 1
1
NECSTouR is a network of European Regions committed to the aim of delivering sustainable and competitive tourism. NECSTouR represents regional authorities and associated members (tourism enterprises/associations representatives, research centers and universities). The network objectives are to develop a strong framework for regional cooperation at European level, to conduct research and contribute to the European tourism policy.
Regional focus: Catalonia
Catalonia is a thousand-year-old region, which language and culture have gradually shaped its personality, becoming a captivating destination which attracted more than 15 million international tourists in 2013.
Although most visitors choose the coastline as their destination, its inland, has countless resorts, monuments and unique landscapes that deserve a strong recognition. Catalonia has a total of 21 natural protected spaces gathering around 650.000 hectares of its territory.
The region covers an area of 31,930 km2 in which it is possible to drive from the sea to the snow in 90 minutes and to visit within a city Romanesque and Art Nouveau monuments in just a five minutes’ walk. Catalonia offers opportunities for: Sun and sand, Sport, Gastronomy, Museums, Theatre and Music, Skiing and a wide range of activities suiting all tastes and ages.
The Catalan capital is the city of Barcelona which enjoys a prime location, bathed by the sea and has excellent transport links with the rest of Europe.
The gastronomy of Catalonia is currently enjoying one of its most flourishing periods, thanks to the creativity of chefs famed as amongst the best in the world. Since 2002, Barcelona has been awarded the distinction Gourmande, and the Region counts with sixty-three Michelin stars restaurants.
Sustainable tourism is also priority as they are founding members of NECSTouR since 2009. The Catalan Strategic Tourism Plan 2013-2016 defines the principles of the regional tourism model and contains guidelines for developing tourism governed by the criteria of sustainable competitiveness.
NECSTouR 2014 AGM & REGIONAL CONFERENCE
This year, the Catalan Government, the Catalan Tourism Board and the University of Girona welcomed NECSTouR Annual General Meeting and Regional Conference on 8th and 9th April 2014.
During these two days, internal and public meetings, thematic workshops, as well as brainstorming sessions took place under the theme “Innovative tourism for growth and jobs”. Participants had the occasion to share their vision about the “tourism of the future” and the role of NECSTouR with a 2020 perspective. The foremost NECSTouR event gathered around 60 European tourism stakeholders!
NECSTouR also welcomed the adhesion of new members: South Limburg, Sardegna, HES-SO School of Management and Tourism Institute, Malta Hotels & Restaurants Association and Parco Nazionale della Sila!
LATEST NEWS
►Contact the Permanent Secretariat
Coordinator: Cristina Núñez
Mail: cristina.nunez@necstour.eu
Mobile: +32 487425818
Phone: +32 26406151
Skype: NECSTouR
Officer: Sandra De Puig
Mail: info@necstour.eu
Phone: +32 26406151
Skype: NECSTouR Communication
Ms Sylvie Perucca collaborated with NECSTouR during her 4 months internship dealing with communication, monitoring of EU programmes, events organization and administrative support to the association.
FOLLOW US on TWITTER!
@NECSTouR
Network of European Regions for a Sustainable and Competitive Tourism #EU #Destination #Culture #Regions #Universities #Industry #Sustainability #Quality #neZEH
SEPTEMBER
2014
NEWSTouR
N°14
NECSTouR
62 rue du Trône - Boîte n°10
1050 Bruxelles – BELGIUM
0032 2 741 87 52
info@necstour.eu
www.necstour.eu

2. 2
NECSTouR's Special Guest
NECSTouR is reinforcing its cooperation and synergies with the European Commission, in particular with the DG Enterprise and Industry. This is highlighted by the participation of Mr. Pedro Ortún, Director of Directorate E, to NECSTouR Executive Committee on December 2013 and to its General Assembly in Catalonia last April.
Mr. Ortún recognised that NECSTouR members play a relevant role in the implementation of the EU Tourism Policy while contributing to the Europe 2020 objectives in the territory. He stated that Regions are crucial to get the EU Institutions and its citizens closer. Thus, he encouraged NECSTouR to spread its voice and to grow!
Activities
 Sustainable Tourism Indicators
The work focus of NECSTouR Indicators Task Force (NIT) for 2013 and 2014 has been concretely devoted to the ETIS first implementation pilot phase of some NECSTouR Destinations.
Specific attention has been given to share the experiences by the involved NECSTouR Regions/destinations, to identify the ETIS benefits and obstacles, as well as to find joint solutions and synergies with other non-NECSTouR destinations implementing this European system.
NECSTouR Coordinator was invited during the ETIS workshop organized by the European Commission on July 4th, to present how the NIT has been contributing to the ETIS first and second pilot phases and the network's potential to contribute to the ETIS sustainability. NECSTouR Members: Alqueva Dark Sky and A.T.L. del Cuneese - Cuneo Alps and Cities of Art presented their case study at this ocassion.
The European Commission recognised the high knowledge experience of NECSTouR Members in this field and looks for closer cooperation.
 Innovative Tourism for Growth and Jobs
Innovation is at the center of the European political agendas and is considered essential for enhancing the competitiveness and economic growth of Europe. Considering that innovation can be tackled from multiple perspectives: research & development, technology transfer, development of new business concepts, social or organizational interactions, NECSTouR has been liaising the tourism sector with the EU 2020 Innovation priority. As such, the following initiatives have been proposed:
 NECSTouR AGM’14 focused on “Innovative Tourism for growth and Jobs”. The Public Seminar dealt with Tourism and Smart Specialization Strategy (S3) as well as Tourism and Social Innovation.
 NECSTouR members were encouraged to intervene in events related to innovation such as DANTE Final Conference where Canton Valais presented their actions according to implementation of a digital agenda within the regional tourism initiatives.
 A joint event with ERRIN is foreseen for September 2014 which will focus on the role of ICTs for the benefit of tourism in the framework of the regions S3.
Tourism, Innovation and Sustainability are a guiding thread for NECSTouR forthcoming strategic actions and look forward to consolidate Tourism as a key sector to contribute to the EU 2020 objectives in the territory.
 Accessibility
“Tourism for All” implies integrating accessibility in all its large terms into the whole tourism value chain, in order to ensure tourism destinations accessible for everyone.
NECSTouR Accessibility Task Force, coordinated by Veneto and Île-de-France Regions, closed during NECSTouR AGM’14 the first peer review cycle on NECSTouR Accessible regions which consisted on two parts:
1) Analysing the regional cases of Flanders, Catalonia, Ile-de-France, Veneto and their integration of accessibility in the tourism strategies
2) Developing a Roadmap for Accessible Tourism Destinations based on the previous studies
NECSTouR Accessibility Task Force successfully participated in the Conference “Mind the Accessibility Gap: Rethinking Accessible Tourism in Europe” held by the EC on 6th June where NECSTouR coordinator, moderated the Session on Good Practices Examples. The event aimed at presenting the results of 3 European Commission’s studies on Accessible tourism in Europe, which were undertaken by ENAT with whom NECSTouR cooperated. The Regional Minister for Tourism of Veneto, Mr. Finozzi, gave a strong message defending NECSTouR Task Force as the vehicle for master accessible tourism at a EU and national level.
The three mentioned studies are available at the European Commission DG ENTR website.
NECSTouR Coordinator @ the EC conference of 6th June
 Climate Change on Tourism
Preventing Climate Change and developing mitigation strategies is a major challenge for the EU and.
Acknowledging that tourism is both a highly-climate sensitive sector and a vector of climate change, NECSTouR created a Working Group on Tourism and Climate Change, aiming at
- identifying the social, economic and environmental impacts of Climate Change in tourism;
- studying tourism regional strategies and Good Practices for prevention, mitigation and adaptation;
A first workshop was developed during NECSTouR AGM’14, where NECSTouR members expressed their interest in pursuing the exchange of public and private initiatives on this subject.

3. 3
neZEH meeting June’14 @UNWTO headquarter, Madrid
neZEH meeting October’13 @ Brasov
Under the framework of the European Sustainable Energy Week, NECSTouR organized an Energy Day on “Climate Change Mitigation through Tourism Energy Efficiency”. The workshop aimed at analyzing showcases on climate change mitigation through the use of renewable energy and/or energy efficiency in the tourism sector: Regional Strategy (Île- de-France), Local Business (Canton Valais) and the Nearly Zero Energy Hotels -neZEH- project as an example of a European initiative. Moreover, a debate on how these pilot cases can be widely replicated within Europe took place, counting with panel of experts composed by representatives from EASME, UNWTO, CBCS and Visit Cornwall.
In view of the necessity to stimulate a behavioral change among the industry and the policy makers for replicating Europe wide the pilot initiatives, NECSTouR will continue fostering the exchange of good practices and knowledge in this field. PROJECTS
Ongoing Projects:
Nearly Zero Energy Hotels -neZEH- project
Towards a neZEH tourism industry!
NECSTouR is consortium partner of the nearly Zero Energy Hotel (neZEH) project, which has been running for one year and is currently in its implementation stage.
This project is a response to the European Directive on the energy performance of buildings1, contributing directly to the EU 2020 targets on GHG reduction by increasing the number of nearly Zero Energy Buildings (nZEB).
The main goal of neZEH is to accelerate the rate of refurbishment of existing hotels. For this purpose the consortium partners have launched a call for pilot hotels, aiming to select 14 pilot hotels in 7 countries - Croatia, Greece, France, Italy, Romania, Spain, and Sweden - committed to become a neZEH. The European SMEs hotels interested in neZEH will benefit from an e-tool to assess their hotel energy consumption, training and capacity building activities, as well as marketing material and guidelines. Want to be a pioneer in the EU hotel industry? Join neZEH network!
What is nZEB? Is building that has very high energy performance and operates with a very low or nearly zero amount of energy, using renewable energy sources to a significant extent, including energy produced on-site or nearby.
1 2010/31/EU, EPBD recast In order to ensure the performance of the project outcomes, two Consortium meetings took place: one organised by ABMEE in October 2013 - Brasov (RO), and the other one organised by the UNWTO in June 2014 - Madrid (ES).
Closed Projects:
ODYSSEUS & T4EST successfully closed NECSTouR is proud of the successful conclusion of both ODYSSEUS and T4EST projects. The network is ensuring the sustainability and the continuity of both projects.
ODYSSEUS NECSTouR is pursuing the cooperation of the ODYSSEUS partnership. ODYSSEA and the European Institute of Culture Routes are members of NECSTouR and the Communauté d'Agglomération Hérault-Méditerranée (the lead partner) is located in Languedoc Roussillon which officially expressed the wish to joint NECSTouR. T4EST T4EST Final Conference “Boosting the success of Tourism Projects” was held in Brussels on September 2013. NECSTouR assigned a cooperation agreement with FEST which has the copyright of the PM4ESD™ (Project Management for European Sustainable Development): a new methodology and qualification for designing and managing tourism projects with sustainable criteria and principles. NECSTouR has been actively supporting the II Summer School "Leadership and Governance in Sustainable Tourism" and is also engaged in development joint projects with FEST. The network is trying to find out other actions to mainstream PM4ESD™ methodology in EU through the regions.
Awarded Projects:
MITOMED Project
Models of Integrated Tourism in the Mediterranean
MITOMED Project was successfully awarded by the PO MED programme! The partners:
- Leader: Tuscany Region - Department of Tourism Promotion and Development (IT)
- CNR-IBiMet (IT)
- Girona University (ES)
- Institute of Agriculture and Tourism (HR)
- ANATEL (CY)
- NECSTouR

4. 4
The project aim is to implement the MED Programme "1M- MED14-10 - Models of Integrated Tourism in the Mediterranean" by:
 Performing a gap analysis related to maritime and coastal tourism in the Mediterranean through an assessed system of NECSTouR sustainable tourism indicators;
 Providing a common framework to uphold EU's "Integrated Maritime Policy" and "Agenda for a sustainable and competitive EU tourism";
 Exploring the development potential of M&C tourism as a competitive and sustainable driver of Blue Growth through several actions in line with EU2020;
 Providing Action Plan and Guidelines to improve the coordination of tourism strategies for future transnational projects and to enhance synergies between tourism actors in different MED regions.
Awarded Tender:
For the first time NECSTouR has won a Tender from the European Commission!
The project’s “Mapping and Performance Check of the Supply Side of Tourism Education and Training” aim is to examine the EU 28 education and training framework for tourism and to assess in providing the necessary labour market skills for employers
The partners:
 Leader: Center for strategy and evaluation services - CSES
 Fondazione Campus
 NECSTouR
Institutional News
Tourism of the Future
 NECSTouR Position Paper The European Commission launched two Public Consultations on the EU Tourism of the Future and on the Regulatory and Administrative Framework on EU Tourism.
NECSTouR prepared its position paper “Towards the European Tourism of the Future” including strategic proposals for more smart, sustainable and inclusive tourism in Europe.
Insights of the Tourism Action Plan
 Senior & Youth Tourism: on top of the EC Tourism Agenda
The initiative “Calypso” aims to open up new horizons for younger and older travelers, disabled people and low-income families, while creating new jobs and business opportunities during offseason.
Under this framework, the European Commission “Tourism Senior Initiative” aims at defining the framework conditions to enhance senior citizens to travel in Europe. Following the success of the 2013 call for proposals under this topic, the
“COSME” programme also allocates some budget to co- finance projects that respond to this initiative.
 EU Strategy for Coastal & Maritime Tourism
EU's Blue Growth strategy identifies Coastal & Maritime Tourism as a potential sector to contributing to growth, competitiveness and jobs creation, in particular in coastal areas which often suffer from high unemployment.
Under this framework, the European Commission published the Communication: “European Strategy for more growth and jobs in Coastal and Maritime tourism” which was presented on March’14 during the “High level conference on Tourism and Blue Growth Strategies for the EU” organized by the Greek Presidency in Athens.
NECSTouR members contributed to the Communication by participating to the open consultation that preceded this publication and by developing a NECSTouR position paper. The strategy proposes 14 Actions to enhance the sector's sustainability and competitiveness, and shares good practices of existing initiatives such as Odyssea and FEDETON (both members of NECSTouR).
 European Tourism Quality Principles (ETQP)
The EC proposed a set of voluntary European Tourism Quality Principles (ETQP) to help tourism service providers promote the quality of their services and strengthen consumer confidence, as well as to boost tourism flows and competition in Europe. The principles focus on 4 main areas that interfere on the quality of the tourism service: 1) employee training; 2) consumer satisfaction policy; 3) cleaning and maintenance; 4) information provided to tourists.
 ICT and TOURISMlink
Following the European 2020 strategies and the 2010 Communication, the European Commission DG ENTR is working on the ICT & Tourism Initiative. The aim is to increase the use of technology devices by the SMEs, while boosting their competitiveness and the creation of jobs. This initiative is developed under three action lines: i) Policy: high-level group; ii) Technology: TourismLink; and Operations: Tourism Business Portal.
Two ICT & Tourism events where organized by the European Commission: - March’14: "IT in Tourism Workshop" to present the Tourism Business portal - June’14 : “TOURISMlink: linking tourism professionals with the digital market” to present the results achieved by the TOURISMlink initiative which aims at creating and Europe-wide online platform to connect small travel businesses with travel agents and tour operators

5. 5
EU Funds for Tourism
 Info Day on Tourism Funding
On 20th March the EC organized the Info Day on EU Funding for Tourism to present the funds available for tourism in the new MFF 2014-2020 and an updated version of the “Guide to EU Funding Programmes for Tourism Stakeholders” published in 2012 which will be available soon.
Upcoming Calls for Proposals for Tourism DG ENTR
I) COSME
COSME is a European programme aiming at strengthening the competitiveness and sustainability of the Union’s enterprises and to encourage an entrepreneurial. Period: from 2014 to 2020 Total Budget: €2.3bn allocated in
- Access to finance
- Access to markets
- Framework conditions
- Entrepreneurship Tourism Work Programme 2014 Budget: €8.7 million
Tourism-related objectives:  Sustainable transnational tourism products  PUBLISHED on 7th July  DEADLINE: 7th October 2014  Synergies between tourism, high-end and creative industries  PUBLISHED on 18th June  DEADLINE: 4th November 2014  Increasing tourism flows in low/medium seasons
II) Preparatory Action:
Two Preparatory Actions where published on 8th August with deadline on 21st October:  “Promotion of European and transnational tourism products with special emphasis on cultural and industrial products”  “Tourism for All”, the goal of this call will be related to the recommendations issued from the 3 European studies on Accessible Tourism, mentioned above.
NECSTouR & ERRIN
Tourism Brokerage Event on COSME Calls
NECSTouR & ERRIN networks organised a successful tourism brokerage event on May in Brussels. The event aim at learning more about COSME calls and at facilitating project proposals and partners search among both networks members. Mr. Alain Liberos, Deputy Head Unit E1 – DG ENTR, made a general overview on the EU Tourism Policy and Initiatives, afterwards Mrs. Cinzia De Marzo, Policy Officer of Tourism Unit E1 - DG ENTR presented COSME Programme and the Tourism calls for proposal 2014. This event gathered around 80 members of both networks: proving their high interest on deepen the knowledge on COSME calls and on exchanging project ideas!
EVENTS’ TouR
PAST EVENTS
NECSTouR intervened in the following events:
Creative Regions for a Creative Europe (05/03/2014 – Bruxelles, BE). NECSTouR attended as a speaker this conference organized by the Istria Region which presented the Istria Inspirit project.
EU Manifest for Sustainable Nautical Tourism (29/04/2014 – Bruxelles, BE) organized by FEDETON in order to endorse the Manifest.
Swedish Regional Tourism Authorities Meeting (03/04/2014 –Uppsala, SE). NECSTouR was invited to present the network, invited Västra Götaland Region.
NECSTouR speaks in the Murcia Region European Day: The European Tourism Policy and the new Multiannual Financial Framework 2014-2020 (29/04/2014 – Murcia, ES)
NECSTouR presented the Industrial Tourism in NECSTouR Regions during the Crossroads of Europe (17-20/06/2014 – Ferrol, ES)
Workshop on the results of the first pilot phase of ETIS (04/07/2014, Brussels – BE), where NECSTouR members and Permanent Secretariat shared reflections and experiences on the ETIS implementation and its future. UPCOMING EVENTS
1st International conference “Tourism Research and Management in a Rapidly Changing World” by the UK Leuven 15-16 September, Leuven -BELIGUM
TOURAGE “Developing Senior Tourism in Remote Regions” Final Conference 18 September, Brussels – BELGIUM
NECSTouR & ERRIN joint event “The role of ICTs for the benefit of tourism in the framework of your S3” 19th September, Brussels – BELGIUM
World Tourism Day 2014 – Tourism and Community Development, by the UNWTO 27 September, Guadalajara - MEXICO
“Destination Europe” by the Delegation of the European Union in Indonesia 18-19 October, Jakarta - INDONESIA
Open Days “12th European Week of Regions and Cities” 6-9 October, Brussels - BELGIUM
World Social Tourism Forum, by ISTO 7-10 October, São Paulo – BRAZIL

6. 6
INRouTe II International “Regional Tourism: Moving towards a Regional TSA approach” 9-10 October, Venice - ITALY
4th m-Tourism day: ICT and coastal Tourism for all in the Euro Mediterranean area 14 October, Nice-FRANCE
World Summit "Destinations for All" 19-22 October, Montréal - CANADA
European Tourism Forum, 30-31 October, Naples - ITALY
WTM World Responsible Tourism Day, by UNWTO
5 November, London - UK
1st EUREKATOURISM+ Brokerage Event on “The advancement of the tourism industries through technology and innovation” by EUREKATourism
13 - 14 November, Palma de Mallorca - SPAIN
1st UNWTO Conference on Accessible Tourism in Europe 19-20 November, SAN MARINO
EUROMEETING by Tuscany Region 26-27 November, Florence - ITALY
Global Eco Forum Inspiring Sustainability by Eco-Union 28 November, Barcelona – SPAIN
European Tourism Day,
1 December, Brussels – BELGIUM
STUDIES
A MODEL FOR SUSTAINABLE COMPETITIVENESS OF TOURISM DESTINATIONS
by Antonio Magliulo, Lupsio University
PROGRESS IN RESPONSIBLE TOURISM – VOL.2
by Harold Goodwin and Xavier Font
ENHANCING THE COMPETITIVENESS OF TOURISM IN THE EU - AN EVALUATION OF 20 CASES OF INNOVATION AND GOOD PRACTICE
By EC – DG ENTR
TOURISM PUBLICATIONS
EU TOURISM BAROMETER 2014
The EC has published the report on Preferences of Europeans Towards Tourism.
UNWTO Tourism Highlights, 2014 Edition
Presents an overview of international tourism in the world based on the results for the year 2013.
European Tourism Portfolio Analysis
This report developed by the European Travel Commission assesses the importance of different source markets for European tourism destinations.
INTERVIEW
In the 21° century new innovative forms of tourism are raising, moving away from the common sense of tourism which was dominating until now. NECSTouR Permanent Secretariat interviewed Mr. Maurizio Davolio, Representative of the NECSTouR Associated Committee and President of EARTH, AITR and Legacoop Turismo to have a deeper overview on what Community-Based Tourism (CBT) implies: which are the purposes, who are the stakeholders and how sustainability is conceived. The main highlights of the interview are transmitted hereby.
Community-Based Tourism is not limited to tourism professionals, but involves the whole community where the tourism activities take place: farmers, fishermen, cultural associations, traders, artisans and even citizens.
It is organized by the local community, generally by active citizens, often encouraged by international development cooperation. It must be underpinned that the local community decides the degree of depth of the relationship with its guests: it can be tourism for the community, with the community, in the community. The choice depends on the decisions of the local population, which is sovereign in its own territory. The main pillars of CBT should be:
- democratic participation of all concerned citizens;
- effort to distribute the tourism economic benefits to all the participants as fair as possible;
- allocation of parts of the profits in projects of collective interest;
- enhancement of local tangible and intangible cultural;
- sustainability of tourism activities,
- involvement of the guests in the local social life,
- friendly relationships and mutual respect between visitors and the local community.
The tourists who undertake this kind of journey wish to experience an enriching travel and therefore, they look for being involved with the local population activities: they participate in the local day life, in the traditional activities and bring back home a strong memory of their experience. They are generally young people, mostly women, with medium and high cultural profiles.
The CBT “philosophy” is expanding all over the world, especially in Latin America (Ecuador, Bolivia, Brazil and Peru) and Africa (Senegal) where we can also find its origins. Some regional/national governments have realized the possibilities that CBT offers for the development of inland areas, not just because the revalorization of the territorial assets but also, and more important, because it allow the local population to be involved in the different levels of decision making process and to receive real benefits from tourism.
Italy is also facing development problems in the inland areas which are characterized by phenomena of heavy emigration and aging of the population. That is why Legacoop, Confcooperative and AITR are engaged in spreading Community-Based Tourism which gives the chance to tourists to appreciate history, art, traditions, typical products, local cuisine, and handicrafts of destinations off the beaten path. Their goal is disseminating initiatives, good practices and creating and encouraging a network of training activities, promotion and marketing.