SERVICES EXPORT- THE EUROPEAN TOURISM CASE (AUGUST 30Th)

 1. Concepts.
European Commission: The European Commission is the EU's executive body. It represents and upholds the interests of Europe as a whole. It drafts proposals for new European laws. It manages the day-to-day business of implementing EU policies and spending EU funds. The Commission also makes sure that everyone abides by the European treaties and laws (European Commission, 2010).

EU tourism policy: it’s a project of European Union that tries to reach a more competitive tourism sector of the members states. The policy focuses on 3 main areas: 1) Mainstreaming measures affecting tourism, 2) Promoting tourism sustainability and,   3) enhancing the understanding and the visibility of tourism. It intends enhance the development potential of the European tourism industry and support the creation of growth and jobs in the EU.  (European Commission, 2009).

2.    Question

 According to the paper "Europe, the world's No 1 tourist destination – a new political framework for tourism in Europe" by European Commission, Why is the role of tourism exports in UE economy?

In general terms, Service sector is becoming increasingly important in recent years, so that today in many countries the service sector is the most representative in the composition of GDP.  Riddle (Cited in Daniels, 2000), expressed, in 1986, that “the service sector is a vital force in stimulating and facilitating economic growth”.  Nowadays It is a major reality and therefore many countries or economic blocs (as European Union) are developing competitive advantages in exports of strategic services.

In this context, ”tourism is, nowadays, of major importance for the world economy and that for many countries is one of the largest single employment and exporting service sector (Balaver and Cantavella-Jordá, 2002: p 877). So,   Tourism sector is a potential economic  force for countries with high naturals resources or cultural and historical heritage because of new conditions (globalization and better communications and transport facilities)  that allows countries to advertise more effectively their touristic destinations and create a  country’s brand in order to promote international tourism.

According to European Commission (2010):

Tourism is an economic activity capable of generating growth and employment in the EU, while contributing to development and economic and social integration, particularly of rural and mountain areas, coastal regions and islands, outlying and outermost regions or those undergoing convergence. With some 1.8 million businesses, primarily SMEs, employing approximately 5.2 % of the total workforce (approximately 9.7 million jobs, with a significant proportion of young people), the European tourism industry1 generates over 5% of EU GDP, a figure which is steadily rising.2 Tourism therefore represents the third largest socioeconomic activity in the EU after the trade and distribution and construction sectors. Taking into account the sectors linked to it,3 tourism's contribution to GDP is even greater; it is estimated to generate over 10 % of the European Union's GDP and provide approximately 12% of all jobs. In this regard, observing the trend over the last ten years, growth in employment in the tourism sector has almost always been more pronounced than in the rest of the economy.

Last facts show us the high importance of tourism service export in EU. In effect,  Europe is the biggest tourist market in the world, and, according to data from the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), Europe received during 2009, 460 million  international  tourist people and five of the 10 major international  tourist destinations are part of the EU: France, the first;  Spain, Italy, The United kingdom and Germany.

For this reason European Union are developing important strategies in order to strengthen tourism in all regions of the Union. These strategies are based on the sustainable development of sector and therefore involve environmental and social issues.

3. Point of view.

In think that tourism is sector very attractive and each country should seek competitive advantage in this sector because there are thousands of possibilities to offer to international markets: ecotourism, historical and cultural tourism, luxury tourism and many others, and Europe has used its resources, knowledge and experience to attract million tourist every year and so EU has get economic growth in a service sector that is profitable and besides increase employment and the positive image of a country.

So, in this sense,  it think that European Union has a great advantage because it has high potential in several ways: cultural and historical heritage, infrastructure and, with the Lisbon Treaty,   a organized action plan to maintain its position in world tourism ranking.  

Then, it might be an example for many countries which are able to improve the output of their tourism sector. So, I think that the “action framework” * proposed by EU is a very good way to reach competitiveness in tourism not only for European countries but also other countries around the world.

*the action framework is provided by the Lisbon treaty and includes actions on: diversification of the supply of tourism services, development of innovation on tourism sector, improvement of professional skills, Encouraging an extension of the tourist season, and the creation of socioeconomic knowledge base for tourism.

 BIBLIOGRAPHY

Balaguer, J and Cantavella-Jordá, M. (2002). Tourism as a long-runeconomic growth factor: the Spanish case. Applied Economics, 34 (7), p. 877-884. [Online]. Available at: http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~db=all~content=a713759069

Daniels, PW.(2000). Export of services or servicing exports?.[Online]. Geograskica Annaler series B: Human Geography, 82 (1). P 1-15. Retrieved from EBSCOhost Database: http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=8&hid=113&sid=79ed716a-8675-4d95-98eb-b9b75df4e288%40sessionmgr114&bdata=Jmxhbmc9ZXMmc2l0ZT1laG9zdC1saXZl#db=aph&AN=4225418  

  

European Commission. (may, 2010). Europe, the world's No 1 tourist destination – a new political framework for tourism in Europe. Bruselas. [Online]. Available at: http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/sectors/tourism/files/communications/communication2010_en.pdf

________  (2009). Eu Tourism policy. [Online]. Available at: http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/sectors/tourism/promoting-eu-tourism/tourism-policy/index_en.htm

UNWTO.(april, 2010). UNWTO World tourism Barometer. [Online]. Available at: http://www.unwto.org/facts/eng/pdf/barometer/UNWTO_Barom10_update_april_en_excerpt.pdf

Image: Barcelona Beach, torre Mapfre. Getty images. [Online]. Available at: http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/102541140/The-Image-Bank