The EU’s commissioner for sustainable transport and tourism has warned that the tourism trade is in danger from the direct impacts of local weather change.
Apostolos Tzitzikostas stated that infrastructure just isn’t protecting tempo with the necessity to adapt to those threats.
Talking throughout a panel on the World Financial Discussion board in Davos on Wednesday, Tzitzikostas pointed to Valencia in Spain, which was devastated by floods in 2024.
“Have a look at what occurred to Valencia. We have to see the difficulty of sustainable and resilient infrastructure,” Tzitzikostas stated.
Over 200 folks misplaced their lives throughout the flashfloods final October and Valencia’s chamber of commerce estimated that 48,000 firms had been affected.
Information from Spain’s Nationwide Institute of Statistics revealed a drop in over 35,000 international guests and round 80,000 in a single day stays.
An occasion about journey and tourism at Davos featured Ahmed Al-Khateeb, Minister of Tourism of Saudi Arabia; Apostolos Tzitzikostas, EU Commissioner for Sustainable Transport and Tourism; Edi Rama, Prime Minister of Albania; Jane Solar, Chief Government Officer, Journey.com, Richard Quest, CNN anchor and Xavier Rossinyol, International Chief Government Officer, Avolta AG.
Throughout a wider discuss sustainable tourism, different panelists, together with Ahmed Al-Khateeb, Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Tourism for Saudi Arabia, and Edi Rama, the Prime Minister of Albania, spoke concerning the progress of tourism of their international locations.
Al-Khateeb stated Saudi Arabia goals to extend tourism’s contribution to GDP from 3% to 10% by 2030.
Rama stated that whereas Albania advantages from seeing the errors that different international locations have made in tourism improvement, it doesn’t imply his nation will mechanically keep away from making related pitfalls.
“It isn’t within the human nature to be taught from errors of others,” he stated.
The World Financial Discussion board initiatives that the tourism trade will develop by 7% yearly over the subsequent decade.
Nonetheless, emissions from this sector are additionally projected to rise and tourism might turn out to be one of many largest contributors of greenhouse gasses within the environment.
In the course of the panel, Tzitzikostas confronted robust questions from CNN anchor Richard Quest, for the European Union’s sluggish progress on decreasing emissions.
The EU has been deliberating a coverage that would enhance the effectivity of air transport in Europe and lower aviation emissions by as much as 15%.
When requested why the EU has not decided after 15 years, the commissioner stated that the framework for the initiative was lately handed.
“It’s a very good step. It’s not sufficient and I pledge to work quite a bit in direction of this objective,” he stated. “It is going to save us time which is able to get monetary savings and do not forget that at present we now have very crowded skies and we could have issues if we do not act.”
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