Sustainable Cultural Tourism is the integrated management of cultural heritage and tourism activities in conjunction with the local community, creating social, environmental and economic benefits for all stakeholders in order to achieve tangible and intangible cultural heritage conservation and sustainable tourism development. (European Commission DG EAC, OMC Report 2019).
Sustainable Tourism is tourism that takes full account of its current and future economic, social and environmental impacts, addressing the needs of visitors, the industry, the environment and host communities. (UNWTO).
Sustainable Tourism is tourism that takes full account of its current and future economic, social and environmental impacts, addressing the needs of visitors, the industry, the environment and host communities. (UNWTO).
ECTN supports the UNWTO 'Tourism Opens Minds' initiative 
ECTN members Bremerhaven and Cork finalists in the 'European Capital of Smart Tourism 2024' Award!
ECTN is proud that two of our members, Bremerhaven, Germany, and Cork, Republic of Ireland, are selected in the seven finalists for the European Capital of Smart Tourism 2024 Award. The finalists will present their bids to the European Jury in Brussels at the end of November, and the winners will be announced on 28 November. All the best to ECTN members Bremerhaven and Cork! The ECTN presidency Pafos, Cyprus, is the current European Capital of Smart Tourism 2023 (together with Seville, Spain). ECTN has supported the European Capital of Smart Tourism Awards since the launch in 2019. Cultural Heritage and Creativity, as well as Sustainability are two of the four components of Smart Tourism directly linked to Sustainable Cultural Tourism that ECTN facilitates and promotes. 
ECTN welcomes the European Heritage Awards/ Europa Nostra Awards 2023
Heritage supporters and enthusiasts are now encouraged to discover the winners and vote online to decide who will win the Public Choice Award 2023 Press release #EuropeanHeritageAwards 
ECTN an affiliate member of UNWTO
In the framework of the 118th session of the UNWTO Executive Council in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, on 16-18 May 2023, the new candidatures for the UNWTO Affiliate Membership have been approved. European Cultural Tourism Network (ECTN) is amongst 16 new entities that joined the Affiliate Membership, adding a wide range of profiles with different backgrounds. We are looking forward to working together to build a more accessible, responsible and sustainable tourism industry. 
17 April 2023
ECTN has joined the Climate Heritage Network (CHN) following the approval of its membership application by the Network’s international Steering Committee on 14 April. The CHN aims to unlock culture’s potential by connecting cultural voices to each other and to partners across diverse artistic mediums, regional scales, and economic sectors. ECTN's role in the CHN is to highlight the sustainable cultural tourism aspects of climate change and climate action. The Climate Heritage Network is a global network whose members are committed to mobilising arts, culture and heritage to address climate change and support communities in achieving the ambitions of the Paris Agreement. Launched in 2019, the CHN seeks to scale up culture-based climate action and to foreground the cultural dimensions of climate policy through coordination and cooperation among its members. CHN members work with all types of culture including arts and music; museums and libraries; landscapes, heritage sites and archaeology; and intangible heritage. CHN members include government at all levels, civil society, universities, cultural institutions, artists and creative industries. 
3 March 2023
Inauguration of Pafos as 'European Capital of Smart Tourism 2023' Phedon Phedonos, Mayor of Pafos Region, officially unveiled the city’s brand new hashtag sculpture, marking #Pafos’ year as #EUTourismCapital. Representatives of the European Commission DG GROW handed over the award to the Mayor of Pafos and to Pafos Regional Board of Tourism, current ECTN Presidency. 
ECTN supports the #Tourism4Recovery campaign and the ‘Call for Action: Accelerate Social and Economic Recovery by Investing in Sustainable Tourism Development’ 
ECTN welcomes the new guidelines on responsible restart of cultural tourism by UNWTO in collaboration with UNESCO News Release Guidelines ECTN a member of the Stakeholders Commitee for the EUROPEAN YEAR OF CULTURAL HERITAGE 2018, selected by the European Commission DG Education & Culture (EAC)
ECTN is the only member of the EYCH 2018 Stakeholders Committee with a tourism mandate |
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