Sustainable Cultural Tourism development and promotion across Europe

Members Area

UNWTO

ReInHerit Digital Hub

ECTN Awards 2024

Finalists by Category announced !

ECTN is pleased to announce the finalists of the ECTN Awards 2024. The winners (1st Prize) and runners-up (2nd and 3rd Prizes) will be revealed at the ECTN Awards ceremony to take place on 24 October at Dublin Castle, Dublin, Ireland, during the 17th ECTN Conference.

The joint Jury is comprised by representatives of ECTN, Europa Nostra, European Travel Commission and Dublin City Council - European Capital of Smart Tourism 2024, with the participation of ENAT - European Network for Accessible Tourism for the 'Accessibility to Heritage' category.

The finalist results list can be downloaded here.

Public Choice Voting online

Vote for your favourite finalist in each category !

Closing date: 18 October 2024

ECTN celebrates 15 years of activities !

since its founding in Brussels on 20 May 2009

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).

ECTN Conference and Awards 2024 announced at the launch of 'Dublin European Capital of Smart Tourism 2024'

The 17th ECTN Cultural Tourism Conference and Awards ceremony will take place during 23-26 October 2024 in Dublin, Ireland, hosted by Dublin City Council as part of the European Capital of Smart Tourism 2024 activities.

House of European History receives ECTN Award !

The ECTN Board has decided to award the 'House of European History' a Special Prize as a 'Destination of Sustainable Cultural Tourism 2023' at pan-European level. This special award is introduced in the framework of a specific category on 'History and Heritage' in the ECTN Awards, 10th edition. Furthermore, it is as an acknowledgement of a study visit that took place in May 2023, in the framework of the ReInHerit (Redefining the future of cultural heritage) Coordination and Support Action (CSA) in the EU Horizon 2020 programme.

The Award ceremony took place at the House of European History in Brussels on 14 March 2024. The museum director Dr. Constanze Itzel received the award from the ECTN Secretary-General, Manos Vougioukas.

The House of European History (HEH) is a history museum and cultural institution in Brussels, Belgium, focusing on the recent history of Europe. It is an initiative by the European Parliament, opened in 2017. It meets several of ECTN Awards and ReInHerit CSA criteria, such as cultural heritage management, sustainability, quality, digitalisation, accessibility and innovation. Regarding digitalisation, HEH offers highly relevant digital facilities such as multilingual and interactive tablets with audio enhancing the visitor experience, virtual tours and online collection. With additional high standards on sustainability, accessibility and creativity in special exhibitions, HEH is also meeting smart tourism destination criteria. HEH is a most important museum in Brussels, documenting and highlighting European history.

ECTN congratulates HEH for receiving this newly introduced special award at pan-European level !

ECTN joins the 'Global Sustainable Tourism Council' as an Organisational Member

The Global Sustainable Tourism Council® (GSTC) establishes and manages global standards for sustainable travel and tourism, known as the GSTC Criteria. Of interest to ECTN are the Destination Criteria for public policy-makers and destination managers. They are the result of a worldwide effort to develop a common language about sustainability in tourism.

They are arranged in four pillars:
(A) Sustainable management;
(B) Socioeconomic impacts;
(C) Cultural impacts; and
(D) Environmental impacts.

Since tourism destinations each have their own culture, environment, customs, and laws, the Criteria are designed to be adapted to local conditions and supplemented by additional criteria for the specific location and activity.

Organisation Memberhip of the GSTC gives ECTN the ability to be involved in key decision-making processes, gain quality networking opportunities and have access to educational resources.

Dublin City Council joins ECTN as new member in 2024

ECTN Awards 2023 Winners and Runners-up announced !

ECTN supports the UNWTO 'Tourism Opens Minds' initiative

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.

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