NECSTouR Secretary General from the Tuscany Region, Dr Stefano Romagnoli presented NECSTouR and Toscana Region Contribution to the 2017 IYSTD.

The occasion was the event organised on the 14th of June in Rome by Italian Ministry for Tourism and in cooperation with the UNWTO.

The title of the event was "Sustainability, Tourism and Cultural Heritage: The Italian Way"

In the framework of its working group on Structural Funds, NECSTouR gathered representatives from the The European Investment Bank, the European Commission, the European Committee of the Regions and its member Regions to discuss about Building Regional Investment Platforms across Europe.

The objective of that informative session was especially:

The UNWTO is looking for successful stories to be included in the report on “Sustainable Tourism for Development, which serves as the foundation of the IY2017 and defines the current and potential contribution of tourism towards sustainable development.

NECSTouR inputs are essential to establish a more solid knowledge base through evidence and facts covering the regional perspective!

How to contribute?

Share your successful stories following the 5 priorities of the IYSTD

The EU Green Week's aim is to debate and discuss European environmental policy and is organized annually by the European Commission's Directorate-General for Environment. 

NECSTouR involvement:

In Brussels: EU Ecolabel - Highlighting contribution to green jobs creation in the context of the 25th anniversary session on 31st May 2017 organised by DG ENV

The Official Side Event « European Union Tourism Committed to Blue Growth” was held in the framework of the Ocean Conference, on Thursday the 8th of June at the United Nations Headquarters in New York. 

The high-level United Nations Conference focussed from the 5th to the 9th of June on “Our oceans, our future: partnering for the implementation of Sustainable Development Goal 14”, coinciding with the Oceans Day, under the leadership of the Governments of Fiji and Sweden. 

NECSTouR participated for the first time to the UNWTO Commission for Europe in quality of UNWTO Affiliated Member.

The 61st UNWTO Commission for Europe, was held in Chisinau, Republic of Moldova on 6 June 2017. This annual statutory meeting was aimed to provide to the European Members of the UNWTO with an overview of the 2016 – 2017 achievements and the priority areas for collaboration and challenges to address for the upcoming work programme 2018 – 2019.

During the 1st and the 2nd of June,t he NAT commission of the European Committee of the Regions organized an event on "Smart tourism: innovation, partnership and sustainability" in Palma de Mallorca.

Various high level speakers attended the event, including the chairwoman of the NAT commission who is the President of the Balearic Islands.

Ms. Elena Lacasa, the leader of Digital Platforms Working Group, represented NECSTouR at this event, where she talked about "Transformation, Innovation and Growth: NECSTouR Views and Experiences".

Mr. Tomaso Comazzi, from the Permanent Secretariat and representatives from the other Members involved in this project – Tuscany Region, Andalusia, Porec’s Institute of Agriculture and Turism and the Univesity of Girona - attended the second project meeting of MITOMED+ Project, on the 18 th and 19 th of May, in Larnaca (CY).

On the 10th of May, Mrs Cristina Nunez, from the Permanent Secretariat of NECSTouR, met with 25 representatives of the "Amigos do Camiño de Santiago" (Friends of the Saint James' Way) at the "Galicia Europa" Foundation in Brussels.

She explained our initiatives on Competitive and Sustainable Tourism, focusing on the main challenges for managers of European Itineraries in contemporary Europe and which opportunities NECSTouR can provide.