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MEP Anneleen Van Bossuyt, MEP Tom Vandenkendelaere and MEP Sander Loones, 19 October
2017, HOTREC General Assembly in Antwerp
Ms. Elisabeth Köstinger, Austrian minister for
tourism and sustainability, HOTREC General
Assembly, 26 April 2018
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2017
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2018 HOTREC ANNUAL REPORT
A policy dialogue with three leading Belgian Members of
the European Parliament, during HOTREC Antwerp GA
During its 75
th
General Assembly in Antwerp (19-20 October 2017)
organised thanks to HORECA Vlaanderen, HOTREC engaged a policy
dialogue with three leading Members of the European Parliament: MEP
Anneleen Van Bossuyt, Chair of the Internal Market & Consumer Protection
committee, MEP Tom Vandenkendelaere, Member of the Economic &
Monetary Affairs and Employment & Social Affairs committees, and MEP
Sander Loones, who sits in the Economic & Monetary Affairs and Civil
Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs committees.
MEP Van Bossuyt presented her committee’s activities about online
platforms, the collaborative economy and digitalisation of the economy.
MEP Vandenkendelaere presented the main aspects of the European Pillar
of Social Rights on which he is shadow rapporteur. Finally, MEP Loones
informed the HOTREC Membership about the last developments on the
revision of the Visa Code and about the EU’s intention to establish a new
travel authorisation system called ETIAS for tourists from third countries
exempted from Visa requirements.
The presentations were followed by a policy debate, giving HOTREC a
strong opportunity to share with these leading EU policy makers the
sector’s positions on unfair practices from online platforms, on the need to
better regulate the collaborative economy, and on the necessity to quickly
revise the Visa code to attract further international tourists from booming
source markets such as China and others.
On the occasion of HOTREC’s 76th General Assembly held in Vienna on
26 April 2018 thanks to HOTREC Austrian Members APHA, APRA and
VVAT, HOTREC welcomed as a guest of honour Ms. Elizabeth Köstinger,
a former member of the European Parliament who was appointed as the
Minister for Tourism and Sustainability in the recently appointed Austrian
government. Ms. Köstinger presented the priorities of her government
to develop tourism. In particular, she explained that her government
is currently reflecting on the creation of a new masterplan for tourism
development at national level. This includes discussions on quality,
employment in the sector and access to financing, improving tourism
marketing and implementing an ambitious digitalisation strategy for
tourism. At European level, the Austrian government will try to ensure a
strict respect of the principle of subsidiarity, to promote a level-playing
field in tourism with less red-tape and to launch discussions in the next
European Tourism Forum to be held in Vienna on strategic visions for
sustainable tourism linked to quality of life.
HOTREC discusses tourism development with the new Austrian minister for Tourism, during
HOTREC Vienna GA
HOTREC shared with leading EU policy makers its positions on the regulation of
platforms, the EU’s pillar of social rights and the need to revise the visa code.