EBI Secretary-General Philip Easthill took part in a high-level dialogue in Brussels with Commissioner Apostolos Tzitzikostas on the upcoming European Sustainable Tourism Strategy.

Commissioner Tzitzikostas, responsible for Sustainable Transport and Tourism, hosted the high-level meeting with the key sectoral representatives of the tourism sector. He highlighted the need to maintain Europe’s global tourism leadership, bring a tourism perspective into all relevant EU policies, cut unnecessary red tape and support local businesses. He confirmed that the first European Strategy for Sustainable Tourism will be presented in June and invited stakeholders to submit concrete proposals in the coming weeks, with clear targets and a strong link between tourism, transport and mobility.

EBI presented nautical tourism as one of Europe’s success stories: around 48 million people undertaking water sports each year, up to 20,000 marinas, more than 6.5 million boats, 32,000 mostly SME businesses and over 280,000 jobs, with a turnover estimated above €45 billion – and the vast majority of boats and equipment in European waters made in Europe. EBI stressed three core challenges the Strategy should address: investment in infrastructure for decarbonisation and growth, fragmented and burdensome rules that limit mobility of boaters and workers, and tourism approaches that overlook active tourism such as boating and water sports. EBI also underlined that Europe’s coastline, inland waterways and maritime heritage offer a unique selling point for “Destination Europe” that no other region can match – if policy and investment recognise boating and nautical tourism as part of the solution.

EBI will follow up with further detailed input to the European Commission, working to ensure that boating, marinas and nautical tourism are clearly reflected in the forthcoming Strategy, its priorities and its implementation on the ground. It follows EBI's ongoing engagement with the EU institutions on the topic of tourism, including at the breakfast debate organised with ADAC and hosted by MEP Brnjac in November 2025 in the European Parliament.