The European Commission’s first-ever EU Sustainable Tourism Strategy marks an important milestone in establishing a common EU vision for a more competitive, sustainable, resilient and inclusive tourism sector. “Buses and coaches have a fundamental role to play in making European tourism more sustainable, accessible and inclusive”.
With this strategy the Commission recognises the difficulties operators face in navigating fragmented local urban vehicle access restrictions and increasingly complex and fragmented rules, often accompanied by difficult-to-find or insufficiently transparent information. This creates unnecessary administrative burdens, particularly for international coach services and tourism operators. With the Commission’s recognition of this long-standing challenge a significant step is taken towards the European one-stop shop for urban vehicle access information that the sector has long advocated. “Buses and coaches must be at the heart of delivering this ambition. In many parts of Europe, they are the only collective transport mode capable of reaching tourist destinations, offering affordable and inclusive mobility without the need for extensive new infrastructure,” comments IRU General Delegate to the Permanent Delegation to
the EU Raluca Marian. The strategy also identifies opportunities for tourism investment through the proposed National and Regional Partnership Plans under the next EU budget. IRU calls for these investments to support coach terminals, parking facilities and multimodal hubs connecting coaches with rail and local public transport. The EU Sustainable Tourism Strategy sets out a framework for further initiatives, including investment in tourism infrastructure and the establishment of a new EU Tourism Alliance to support its implementation. “Buses and coaches are among the EU’s most affordable, inclusive and environmentally efficient forms of collective transport. They offer a sustainable way to discover the EU, whether travelling directly to a destination or connecting seamlessly with rail and other modes."