Europe has no shortage of projects and pilot initiatives showing how tourism can become more sustainable and climate-resilient.
The challenge ahead is to turn these experiences into long-term territorial action, supported by the right governance, investment and European strategic frameworks.
This was the central message of the policy session “Towards an EU Climate-Resilience Roadmap for Sustainable Tourism”, organised at the European Parliament on 29 September by the CPMR Islands and Intermediterranean Commissions.
It was held with the support of MEP Nikolina Brnjac.
Bringing together more than 100 representatives from the European Parliament, European Commission, Mediterranean regions, tourism stakeholders and international organisations, the discussion looked at what the forthcoming EU Sustainable Tourism Strategy should deliver for destinations facing growing climate and tourism pressures.
The event also marked the conclusion of NaTour4CChange, a project in which the CPMR has been acting as a partner over the past two and a half years, working with Mediterranean regions and coastal destinations on climate action, governance and the deployment of Nature-based Solutions. The final policy discussion provided an opportunity to bring these territorial experiences into the wider European debate on the future of tourism policy.
The discussion came at a particularly relevant moment for Europe’s islands. In June 2026, the European Commission adopted the first-ever EU Strategy for Islands, recognising the structural challenges linked to insularity and calling for EU policies to be better tailored to island realities. The Strategy explicitly identifies the forthcoming EU Sustainable Tourism Strategy as an important instrument to strengthen the resilience and competitiveness of island tourism ecosystems. For Europe’s islands, the question is therefore not only how to make tourism more sustainable, but how European policies can create the conditions for territories to manage the combined pressures of climate change, connectivity, water, housing, resources and seasonal tourism.
Oening the session,Nikolina Brnjac stressed the need for EU policies to become better connected with investment and implementation on the ground, highlighting the importance of listening to regions and local actors when shaping the next phase of European tourism policy.
She also underlined the need to reconcile tourism competitiveness with the protection of the natural assets on which destinations depend.
Raul Hernandez Sagrera, Deputy Head of Cabinet of the Commissioner for the Mediterranean and Demography, highlighted the importance of tourism for the Mediterranean economy and the need to consider the sector in the context of climate change. He stressed the role of the Pact for the Mediterranean and the importance of cultural heritage, governance and cooperation with the private sector.
The session continued with Nisreen Tamimi, Deputy Secretary General for Sustainable Development of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM), who emphasised that tourism remains a major source of growth, employment and local development across the Mediterranean.
She stressed the need to move towards tourism that is more sustainable, inclusive, circular, climate-ready and rooted in local communities. This requires stronger cooperation between the Mediterranean, national and local levels, allowing solutions developed on the ground to be replicated and scaled.
Izidora Marković Vukadin, Institute of Tourism Croatia and Lead Partner of NaTour4CChange, presented the main results and policy recommendations of the project. Over the past three years, NaTour4CChange has worked with Mediterranean regions and coastal destinations to develop climate action strategies, strengthen governance and test Nature-based Solutions (NbS).
The experience highlighted three priorities for the next phase of European tourism policy: integrated governance, long-term enabling conditions for Nature-based Solutions, and stronger macro-regional and sea-basin cooperation.
More broadly, the discussion demonstrated that climate-resilient tourism cannot be delivered through tourism policy alone. Water, biodiversity, transport, energy, spatial planning, housing, mobility and climate adaptation are all interconnected with the future of tourism destinations.
Climate-resilient tourism requires governance structures capable of connecting different policy areas and levels of government,it was said.
The experience of Sardinia, presented by Regional Minister for Environmental Protection Rosanna Laconi, demonstrated the value of interdepartmental coordination between environment, tourism, spatial planning, cultural heritage and civil protection.
Similarly, Verònica Enríquez, from the Government of Catalonia, presented the Catalan experience of connecting regional climate planning with destination-level implementation and ecotourism governance.
As George Alexakis, Vice-Governor of the Region of Crete and Chair of the CPMR-IMC Culture & Sustainable Tourism Task Force underlined the future EU Sustainable Tourism Strategy should combine common and ambitious European objectives with a strong place-based approach.
“Europe sets the direction.Regions deliver the transition. And islands must be empowered to lead where the challenges are greatest.”
Panellists agreed that the future of sustainable tourism cannot be considered separately from other European policy frameworks.
More concretely, the forthcoming EU Sustainable Tourism Strategy represents an important opportunity to translate the principles of the new EU Strategy for Islands into concrete action for tourism and to enhance the resilience and competitiveness of island tourism ecosystems.
Against this background, participants highlighted several issues that should be reflected in the upcoming EU Sustainable Tourism framework. These include place-based tourism policies, recognising the specific conditions of islands and other peripheral territories.
Jeremy Sampson, CEO of Travel Forward, focused on what destinations need to move from climate plans to implementation, identifying four priorities: building climate intelligence that supports decisions and institutional capacity, connecting tourism action across government and the wider economy, and creating mechanisms for collective action.
A key message was that the next stage of European tourism climate policy should go beyond helping destinations produce Climate Action Plans and focus on creating the conditions for those plans to continuously inform decisions and lead to implementation.
Reacting to the presentations, MEP Alicia Homs, SEArica Vice-Chair for Tourism, stressed the importance of predictable funding, evidence that EU investments in tourism benefit local communities, and better data on carrying capacity at island level.
Miguel Avila Albez, Desk Officer at DG REGIO for the Interreg Euro-MED Programme, provided an initial perspective on the post-2027 programming period.
For the CPMR Islands Commission, ensuring that the specific realities of Europe’s islands are fully reflected in this transition will remain a key priority as the upcoming EU Sustainable Tourism Strategy and the post-2027 policy and financing framework are in the pipeline.
