Minister ‘alert to challenges’ of growing population
Westmeath took centre stage last week as Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment Peter Burke welcomed tourism ministers, senior officials and industry representatives from across the European Union to the county for a major gathering.
The high-level meeting, hosted as part of Ireland’s EU Presidency, included the launch of the first-ever EU Sustainable Tourism Strategy by European Commissioner for Sustainable Transport and Tourism Apostolos Tzitzikostas, marking a significant milestone for the tourism industry across Europe.
“I see tourism as a force of good,” Commissioner Tzitzikostas told the gathering, which is no surprise as 20 million jobs are dependent on tourism, and 10% of the GDP of the Union.
The Westmeath get-together started with a tourism showcase at Mount Druid, Castletown Geoghegan on Wednesday, followed by the main gathering in Bloomfield House Hotel on Thursday.
“It’s been a successful informal ministerial meeting here with our tourism colleagues. It came off the back of our ministerial, tourism summit yesterday, with so many of the DGs right across the union,” Minister Burke said before introducing the Commissioner.
Commissioner Tzitzikostas described tourism as one of Europe’s greatest economic assets, supporting millions of jobs and businesses, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises.
He praised the amount of work that was accomplished in the summit: “One day after the adoption of the first ever European Sustainable Tourism Strategy in Brussels, we are here in Ireland to present it to the ministers of the 27 member states.
“I really want to thank your minister for organising this meeting at a very good time. Because I always believed that member states need to have a protagonistic role in shaping and in implementing the new, the first ever, European strategy for tourism.”
He explained that Europe remains the world’s leading tourism destination, welcoming almost 600 million visitors annually.
He presented details of the EU Sustainable Tourism Strategy. “It showcases Europe’s incredible cultural diversity and richness, the values, even the way of life. And these are things that we should all be proud of,” the Commissioner said. “Tourism brings immense value to Europe’s economy, to local communities, and to people.
“And it is a key sector for our competitiveness, for our sustainability, and for our resilience in the future. Now, to turn the challenges that we face today into opportunities and bring our levels of government around a common vision, we need this very important strategy.”
The two-day event placed Mullingar and Westmeath in the spotlight as Ireland hosted the important discussions shaping the future of European tourism.