The European Commission’s Tourism Unit

International relations

14.04.2026

The European Commission promotes cooperation and the sharing of best practices among Member States, as set out in the EU Treaties. Consequently, since the Treaty of Lisbon (2007), tourism has had a specific legal basis, although it remains essentially a matter for the Member States and does not have its own funding line under the current financial framework.

Driven by the Portuguese Presidency of the Council (first half of 2021) and the effects of the pandemic, there has been a strengthening of the tourism dimension in the EU through new approaches. As part of the new EU Industrial Policy Strategy, the European Commission presented a Transition Pathways for Tourism – TPT (for which Turismo de Portugal acted as Curator for its design and implementation), an ambitious strategic document with a roadmap comprising 27 pillars and 70 concrete actions, defined on a voluntary basis between the Commission, the Member States and stakeholders.

In parallel, the Council of the EU approved an EU 2030 Agenda for Tourism, complementary to the TPT, with a mid- to long-term vision for tourism in the EU, accompanied by a roadmap of actions, including the respective measurement and timing of the concrete actions.

// Tourism Advisory Committee – TAC

The Tourism Advisory Committee (TAC) is responsible for technical discussions on key issues relevant to tourism, as well as for facilitating the exchange of information, consultation and cooperation between the national tourism authorities of the Member States and the European Commission.

The TAC is composed of representatives from the Member States’ national tourism administrations, who provide information on tourism policy measures developed at national level. The Committee meets at least six times a year, with national representation provided by Turismo de Portugal.

// Together For Tourism (T4T) Expert Group

T4T is an expert group set up by the European Commission (DG MOVE and DG GROW) to support the implementation of the Transition Pathway for Tourism and the European Agenda for Tourism 2030.

Its aim is to support the preparation and implementation of European tourism policies, particularly in the development of policy initiatives, by coordinating technical contributions from experts and organisations within the tourism ecosystem. In addition, it aims to strengthen cooperation between the Commission, Member States and stakeholders, promoting alignment in the implementation of legislation, programmes and policies related to tourism, as well as fostering the exchange of experiences, methodologies and best practices, supporting the implementation of the actions set out in the Transition Pathway for Tourism.
T4T carries out its activities through three specialist sub-groups: i) Digital Transition; ii) Green Transition; iii) Resilience, Skills and Inclusion. These sub-groups comprise 55 members and observers from across the tourism ecosystem; Turismo de Portugal, as Portugal’s representative, is present in all three sub-groups and also coordinates the work of the Horizontal Sub-group dedicated to Unbalanced Tourism.

Initiatives of the European Commission

// EU Tourism Stakeholders Platform

The EU Tourism Stakeholders Platform is the European Commission’s central hub for monitoring and implementing the Transition Pathway for the Tourism Ecosystem, providing information, tools and collaboration mechanisms for public and private sector stakeholders.

Key functions:

_ Centralising strategic information on the transition of the tourism sector

The platform brings together content on the European strategy to revitalise tourism, focusing on the green and digital transition, the circular economy and strengthening the resilience of the tourism ecosystem.

_ Supporting the implementation of the Transition Pathway

The platform serves as a support tool for businesses and destinations, providing: i) practical insights and recommended actions; ii) practical and legislative documentation, as well as various reports from different regions; iii) resources to accelerate the green and digital transition.

_ Compile news, resources and best practices

It includes a section featuring articles, news, case studies and technical resources, covering topics such as changes in demand, funding, governance, sustainable tourism, innovation and data.

_ Engaging the community and promoting partnerships

The platform enables stakeholders to: i) submit pledges; ii) participate in workshops, webinars and discussion forums; iii) join the European community co-implementing the Transition Pathway.

_ Facilitating access to European events and initiatives

It publicises webinars, technical sessions and European Commission initiatives dedicated to tourism, particularly on innovation, digitalisation, sustainability and emerging trends in the sector.

// EU Tourism Dashboard

This is a data platform developed by the European Commission to support policy-making, sectoral analysis and the monitoring of the green, digital and socio-economic transition of the European tourism ecosystem – a product developed by the European Commission at Portugal’s request.

Key functions:

_ Providing comparable indicators to guide public policy

The Dashboard offers a comprehensive set of indicators that are comparable over time and across regions, enabling robust analysis of tourism performance, environmental impacts, digitalisation and socio-economic resilience.

_ Monitoring the green and digital transition and socio-economic resilience

The platform is designed to support the monitoring of the three key areas of European tourism policy: environmental impacts, digitalisation and socio-economic vulnerability.

_ Making data accessible to the entire ecosystem

The Dashboard serves policymakers, tourism operators, researchers, consumers and the general public, offering a knowledge base that guides evidence-based decision-making.

_ Enabling territorial analysis at national and regional level

The tool allows data to be viewed by: specific destination (country or region, including NUTS III for some topics); indicator map, to quickly compare figures across destinations.

_ Collecting and harmonising data from reliable sources with a high level of granularity

The EU Tourism Dashboard transforms raw data into policy-relevant indicators, using harmonised sources with high territorial granularity (including NUTS 3 where possible).

_ Providing basic information on the characterisation of destinations

It includes Basic Tourism Descriptors, with data on tourism supply, demand, capacity, connectivity, accommodation and more, creating a comprehensive contextual framework.

// European Tourism Forum

A high-level annual event organised jointly by the European Commission and the country holding the Council presidency during the second half of the year. The Forum’s goal is to bring together the main public and private stakeholders in the sector to discuss and disseminate best practices in relation to a particular topic of interest to tourism.

// European Capital of Smart Tourism

The European Capital of Smart Tourism is an initiative of the European Commission, which awards annual prizes to the European cities (with more than 100,000 inhabitants) that most distinguish themselves in four areas: sustainability, accessibility, digitalisation as well as cultural heritage and creativity. The initiative has so far had seven editions.

// European Tourism Day

A biennial event held in Brussels that brings together around 400 participants, with the aim of exchanging information and views, addressing new challenges and opportunities for EU tourism, and sharing best practices on turning challenges into opportunities. In 2019 and 2020, the European Commission did not organise any activities for this thematic day, resuming in 2023 and 2026 (which should have taken place in 2025). In the last two editions, representatives from Turismo de Portugal participated as speakers, and Aldeias Históricas featured in the exhibition section of the most recent edition.

Cooperation
Foreign policy
Institutional affairs
Turismo de Portugal
European Commission

The European Commission’s Tourism Unit

Related resources

Other resources