Study on the Competitiveness of the EU Tourism Industry - with specific focus on the accommodation and tour operator & travel agent industries

The Study on the Competitiveness of the EU tourism industry - with specific focus on the accommodation and tour operator & travel agent industries - was commissioned by the Commission and run by Ecorys.

Disclaimer : The views and propositions expressed in the study are those of the experts and do not necessarily represent any official view of the European Commission or any other organisations mentioned in the Report.

ENAT commentary: This report indicates that demographic change is one of the trends which presents challenges to the competitiveness to the tourist industry. It makes some references to Social Tourism. Aspects of competitiveness concerning tourists with disabilities and accessibility in general receive only scant attention, for example in relation to the "Calypso" Social Tourism initiative and in the minutes of interviews with representatives of Hotels, Restaurants & Cafés in Europe, (HOTREC) and European Federation of Food, Agriculture and Tourism Trade Unions, (EFFAT).   

Table of contents

List of abbreviations
Executive summary

PART 1: INTRODUCTION 1
1 Introduction 2
1.1 Background of the study 2
1.2 Aim of the study 3
1.3 Methodological approach 3
1.4 Structure of the report 9
2 Key characteristics of the EU tourism industry 10
2.1 Europe as a tourism destination 10
2.2 Structure and economic importance of EU tourism industry 19
2.3 Impact of the financial crisis on the EU tourism industry 22

PART 2: IN-DEPTH ANALYSIS 35
3 Towards a workable definition of the tourism industry 36
4 Accommodation 41
4.1 Introduction 41
4.2 Structure of the commercial accommodation sector 41
4.3 Employment in the accommodation sector 46
4.4 Economic performance of Accommodation sector 51
4.5 Competitiveness analysis of Accommodation sector 55
4.6 Impact of the financial crisis on the accommodation sector 61
5 Tour operators and travel agents 70
5.1 Introduction 70
5.2 Structure of tour operators and travel agents industry 70
5.3 Employment within tour operators and travel agents industry 78
5.4 Economic performance of tour operators and travel agents 80
5.5 Competitiveness analysis of the tour operators and travel agents industry 85
5.6 Impact of the financial crisis on tour operators and travel agents 90
6 Developments in other relevant sectors 96
6.1 Transport sector 96
6.2 Attractions 105
6.3 Restaurants and cafés 114

PART 3: REGULATORY AND OTHER FRAMEWORK CONDITIONS 117
7 Framework conditions affecting the competitiveness of the accommodation
industry 118
7.1 Framework profile of the accommodation industry 118
7.2 Impact of the framework conditions on the competitiveness of the
accommodation industry: the competitiveness grid 125
7.3 Relative importance of different regulatory and other framework conditions
for the industry 129
7.4 Level of priority of different EU policy initiatives to enhance the
competitiveness of the accommodation industry 130
8 Framework conditions affecting the competitiveness of the tour operators
and travel agents industry 132
8.1 Framework profile of the TO&TA industry 132
8.2 Impact of the framework conditions on the competitiveness of the TO&TA
industry: the competitiveness grid 137
8.3 Relative importance of different regulatory and other framework conditions
for the industry 142
8.4 Level of priority of different EU policy initiatives to enhance the
competitiveness of the TO&TA industry 143

PART 4: STRATEGIC OUTLOOK 145
9 Strategic outlook 146
9.1 Methodological approach 146
9.2 The tourism industry today: portrait 2009 148
9.3 The tourism industry in 2010-2020: outlook 153
10 Roadmap for a competitive tourism industry 162
10.1 Challenges for the tourism industry 162
10.2 Roadmap 2010-2020 for the tourism industry 166
10.3 Making the roadmap 2010-2020 operational 175

PART 5: ANNEXES 181

The Annexes include interview notes with 19 organisations/companies. Apart from the BTO interview, all minutes are included in this report. All minutes have been officially approved by the interviewees.

• Accor
• Association of Belgian Tour Operators
• Association of European Airlines
• Belgian Travel Organisation
• Confederation of National Hotel and Restaurant Associations in the EC and EEA
• EFCO&HPA Campsites and holiday parks
• European Federation of Trade Unions in Food, Agriculture and Tourism sector
• European Tour Operators Association
• European Travel & Tourism Action Group
• European Travel Agents’ and Tour Operators’ Associations
• European Travel Commission
• Exceltur
• Federation of Farm and Village Tourism
• Federturismo
• International Air Carrier Association
• International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions, European Office
• International Road Transport Union
• TUI AG
• World Tourism Organisation