Sustainable Cultural Tourism development and promotion across Europe

The ECTN 2021 Conference is part of the bicentennial celebrations "GREECE 2021: 200 Years after the Revolution"

Call for Destinations: Apply by 10 August online

Proposed presentations by ECTN members should be up to 10 minutes on relevant initiatives to regenerate tourism

Call for Sessions: Apply by 30 July online

Proposed Sessions on one of the six sub-themes should be of 90 minutes duration including up to 4 presentations

ECTN 2021 Conference Venue: Divani Palace Acropolis Hotel

Brussels, 26 May 2021

ECTN welcomes the adoption of the 'EU Digital COVID Certificate' Regulation by the EU Council and Parliament

ECTN as a signatory of the Tourism Manifesto joins the other 60+ travel and tourism organisations in calling on EU Member States to ensure the implementation in order to enable the restart of European tourism, particularly thorugh culture, heritage and creativity, with sustainability and resilience.
Download the Tourism Manifesto Press Release

E-FAITH, the European Federation of Associations of Industrial and Technical Heritage, supports the ECTN 2021 Cultural Tourism Conference and Awards, in the framwork of the 'European Year of Rail 2021'

ECTN welcomes this cooperation with E-FAITH, also as a fellow member of the European Heritage Alliance 3.3.

E-FAITH, the European Federation of Associations of Industrial and Technical Heritage is a non-profit making organisation whose objectives are to promote the study of and research in, recording, conservation, development and management, and interpretation of Industrial and Technical Heritage and to facilitate co-operation in Europe between those engaged in these activities.

EAA, the European Association of Archaeologists supports the ECTN 2021 Cultural Tourism Conference and Awards, in the Conference theme and Awards catergory of 'Archaeological Sites and Museums as Cultural Tourism Attractions'

ECTN welcomes this coopertarion with EAA, also as a fellow member of the European Heritage Alliance 3.3.
EAA AIMS

to promote the development of archaeological research and the exchange of archaeological information;
to promote the management and interpretation of the European archaeological heritage;
to promote proper ethical and scientific standards for archaeological work;
to promote the interests of professional archaeologists in Europe;
to promote cooperation with other organisations with similar aims;
to work for the elimination of any form of illegal detection and collection and the damage it causes to the archaeological heritage;
to promote interest in archaeological remains as evidence of the human past and contributing to our knowledge of human culture and to discourage a focus upon any commercial value that may attach to such material.

FEDECRAIL, the European Federation of Museum and Tourist Railways, supports the ECTN 2021 Cultural Tourism Conference and Awards, in the framwork of the 'European Year of Rail 2021'

ECTN welcomes this coopertarion with FEDECRAIL, also as a fellow member of the European Heritage Alliance 3.3.

FEDECRAIL seeks to:

Promote the rescue, restoration and operation of Europe's railway heritage.
Represent its members' interests vis-a-vis international agencies and, in particular, the European Commission in Brussels and the European Parliament in Strasbourg.
Encourage the exchange of ideas across national and cultural boundaries and foster co-operation between museum and tourist railway organisations including museums involved in railway heritage.
Help provide advice and assistance for such organisations.
Study and resolve problems shared in restoring and operating heritage railways.

ECTN a partner in a new Horizon2020 project on Cultural Heritage Management

ECTN is a partner in the new ReInHerit project, Horizon2000 programme. ReInHerit is a Coordinating and Support Action (CSA), 100% funded by the Eurropean Union Horizon2020 programme. The project coordinator is the Bank of Cyprus Cultural Foundation and partners are from Cyprus, Greece, Italy, Spain, Austria and Finland. The project started in March 2021 with a 3-year duration.

ECTN's role is to lead the work on Best Practices regarding Cultural Heritage Management and Cultural Tourism, including organisation of study visits in relevant museums and cultural sites. Best practices will be collected by ECTN members, particularly in countries not represented in the ReInHerit consortium. Furthermore, ECTN will contribute to a 'smart tourism app' development, travelling and digital exhibitions, policy implications for the Research and Innovation Agenda in the next Horizon Europe programme, dissemination and communication activities. The ECTN annual conference will include a special session on ReInHerit CSA in 2023 and 2024.

ECTN supports the European Cultural Heritage Green Paper “Putting Europe’s shared heritage at the heart of the European Green Deal”
by Europa Nostra in cooperation with ICOMOS and the Climate Heritage Network, with the input of other members of the European Heritage Alliance, also supported by the European Investment Bank Institute and the Creative Europe programme of the European Union

There are some 40 references on tourism, including sustainable cultural tourism, therefore this document is of high relevance to the work of ECTN. It will be certainly included in the revised 4th edition of the "Charter for Sustainable Cultural Tourism", currently in progress to be launched at the ECTN Conference and Awards ceremony in Athens, Greece, on 21-22 October 2021.

Executive Summary and Full Paper

ECTN welcomes the European Commission proposal to create a Digital Green Certificate to facilitate safe free movement inside the EU

Press Release by Tourism Manifesto Alliance

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 celebrated 10 years of activities 2009 - 2019 !

ECTN was established as AISLB in Brussels on 20 May 2009. This year ECTN celebrates 10 years of continuous activities and growth, from the 6 founding members in 2009 to 29 members in 2019 and from 5 countries to 19 countries!

During its 10 years of existence, ECTN has participated in 5 EU co-funded projects (4 currently active, established by the ECTN Secretariat), organised 9 international conferences and awarded annual prizes for 'Destination of Sustainable Cultural Tourism' since 2014.

ECTN at the official opening of the 2018 EU-China Tourism Year

at the Doge's Palace, Venice

ECTN was invited by the European Commission DG GROW to to the official opening of the 2018 EU-China Tourism Year (ECTY) on Friday 19 January 2018 in Venice, at the Doge's Palace and the ECTN Secretary-General participated. The ECTY was announced jointly in July 2016 by the President of the European Commission and the Chinese Prime Minister. It aims at increasing the investment opportunities in China for European operators and boosting European growth and jobs by promoting Chinese tourism to the EU. ECTY was launched by Commissioner Bieńkowska and the Chairman of China National Tourism Administration.

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