The EU Green Deal and the Europe Fit for the Digital Age are - among the top six priorities of the European Commission - the ones leading the so called Twin Transition.

Green and digital transformation have to go hand-in-hand. It requires, as set out in the European Green Deal, an immediate change of direction towards more sustainable solutions which are resource-efficient, circular and climate-neutral. It requires that every citizen, employee and business person has the chance, to reap the benefits of our increasingly digitalised society.

Mobility is one of the sectors targeted among both strategies: The EU Green Deal refers  to: “Accelerating the shift to sustainable and smart mobility” and the Digital Age identifies transport and mobility among the sectors through which digital technologies will enable the carbon- neutrality: “Support automated and connected transport”

Despite not being directly mentioned, Tourism needs to be aligned to and recognized by the EU Green Deal to Europe successfully reach the 2050:  the Circular economy priority applies to all sectors, including Tourism, in its ambition to embed sustainable consumption and production, plastic reduction, among others. The new EU Industrial Strategy will makes sure EU businesses can take advantage of the opportunities digitalization and new technologies can endeavor to their competitiveness while contributing to sustainably. Tourism, will be part of this strategy.

 Although not being new, the Tourism and Mobility alliance is not a widely spread practice, reason for which the acknowledgement of market intelligence, customers behavioral as well as real cases is needed to get inspiration and start generating a critical mass.

As proven by the cases available here below, the alliance of both sectors, has innumerable benefits for the destinations: improving coordinated and effective governance, improving the quality of life of residents and the experience of tourists, managing the mobility flows, accessing to data, improving services, building sustainable tourism products, and many more.

- Trends in Sustainable Mobility and Tourism: from policy to customer behavior
- The North German Smart and Sustainable Mobility and Tourism joint initiative
- The Barcelona City Council Mobility and Tourism strategy
- The Alpine Pearls initiative

To better understand how these two sectors – transport and tourism – can work better together, “10 practical guidance recommendations to implement sustainable mobility solutions in touristic destinations” have been developed by the Civitas Destinations Project and NECSTouR.

 Important to bear in mind that the financial mechanisms put in place by the European Commission as the Sustainable Europe Investment Plan, Invest EU programme, the Just Transition fund Mechanism, the Horizon Europe and the ERDF could potentially support financing the alliance of these two strategic sectors  for the Twining Transition and the recovery of EU from the COVID-19 outbreak.

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The presentations above where released during the Civitas Destinations and NECSTouR - NIT webinar organized on the 7th May 2020 about tourism and sustainable mobility, with the objective to discuss and provide participants with examples on “How to bridge the gap between tourism & transport” and “How to bring together the relevant stakeholders in tourism and transport”. More information is available here