The NECSTouR Board of Directors gathered in Brussels from October 15th to 17th to kick off the mandate 2024-2027 following the General Assembly elections in Luleå. The three-day meeting set a proactive and ambitious tone for NECSTouR's ongoing mission, as Board members engaged in interactive workshops to define immediate actions to advance in our NECSTouR 2030 Pathway's five key goals. 

The workshops emphasized NECSTouR's mission to lead and collaborate to strengthen the positive value of tourism in European regions for the benefit of businesses, communities, visitors and the environment by focusing on the two running initiatives, the Tourism of Tomorrow Lab and the Climate Hub, in addition to the new Governance Hub, envisioned as a key resource to support effective tourism governance across the network. Equally important were the discussions around the advocacy campaign to profile the NECSTouR strategy and work with the EU Institutions. In addition, the board underscored the importance of growing the NECSTouR membership and fostering a thriving community of stakeholders with similar missions across Europe.  

As previously agreed and for the first time, we were delighted to welcome our newly appointed associate members representatives to the board, as Board Advisors. Maria Morfoulaki from the Hellenic Institute of Transport and Nina Nesterova from Breda University of Applied Sciences, and were able to bring in their expertise to contribute in advancing our 2030 Pathway by fostering deeper collaboration across our network. 

The Brussels meeting also brought the opportunity to arrange meetings between the Board of Directors and several representatives from the European Commission's DG GROW, DG CLIMA and members from the European Parliament. These meetings provided an essential platform to share NECSTouR's latest projects, discuss alignment over shared objectives, and explore opportunities for partnership. 

Through this new 2024-2027 Board of Directors mandate, NECSTouR has also entered a new transformative period marked by the NECSTouR 2030 Pathway which will focus on governance and strategies, knowledge and data, and climate action. This workshop in Brussels has continued and solidified the work done during the last years in addition to the workshops held in May during the Annual General Meeting in Luleå. With strengthened partnerships and a clear path forward, we look forward to advancing NECSTouR’s mission.