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:
“International Conference on Cultural Tourism Advances” 27-28th June 2023 Venue: KU Leuven, Brussels Campus, Odisee Building, Warmoesberg 26, 1000 Brussels, Belgium For further details and paper submission please visit the conference website 
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. 
1 March 2023
ECTN Awards 2023 Call for entries launched ! The 10th edition of the ECTN Awards 'Destination of Sustainable Cultural Tourism' has been launched with submission of applications by candidates by 1 June. For the 6th year in a row, the ECTN Awards are in partnership with Europa Nostra, European Travel Commission and NECSTouR. The 2023 Awards are in the framework of 'Pafos 2023 European Capital of Smart Tourism' and the ReInHerit Horizon 2020 Coordination and Support Action (CSA). 
More details about application procedure can be found here
The ECTN Awards were firstly launched in 2014 as part of the CHARTS INTERREG IVC project, with several themes of good practices. The Awards continued in 2015 with theme of Industrial Heritage (in the framework of 2015 Industrial Heritage Year), in 2016 with theme Intangible Heritage (in the framework of CHRISTA Interreg Europe project), in 2017 with theme Heritage Interpretation (also in the framework of CHRISTA Interreg Europe project). In 2018 European Year of Cultural Heritage the Awards were in partnership with Europa Nostra and European Travel Commission. This was continued in 2019-2022 also with NECSTouR, supported by several other ECTN EU projects (Cult-RInG and Cult-CreaTE Interreg Europe, Foodbiz Erasmus+) and European associations (Interpret Europe, European Association of Archaeologists, E-FAITH, FEDECRAIL, Phoenicians, Iter Vitis and Via Francigena Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe). The Award 2023 Categories are:
20 December 2022
Sibiu village 'Rășinari' wins UNWTO Best Tourism Village award ! ECTN member Sibiu County Tourism Association (current ECTN Vice-Presidency) has succeeded in winning the UNWTO Best Village award for Rășinari village in Romania. Sibiu County Tourism Association stated: "We're happy and honored that Rasinari has won this international competition launched by UNWTO. Rasinari is the new Best Tourism Village 2022, our village being nominated by the experts and specialists members in the Consultative Council of UNWTO, among 130 candidates from 57 countries. Thus, Rasinari becomes a member of the UNWTO network built in order to facilitate information exchange, experiences and good practices among the villages that share the same title but also those included in the Upgrade Program". This is the link describing Rasinari on UNWTO webpage: https://www.unwto.org/tourism-villages/en/villages/rasinari/ 
9 November 2022
Pafos, current ECTN Presidency, a European Capital of Smart Tourism for 2023! Pafos is a European Capital of Smart Tourism 2023, together with Seville. Pafos Regional Board of Tourism currently holds the Presidency of the European Cultural Tourism Network (ECTN). The selection was made by a jury composed by representatives of EU institutions (European Parliament TRAN Commitee 1st Vice President, Committee of the Regions NAT Commission President, senior officers of European Commission DG GROW). The announcement was made in Brussels today, following presentations of all finalists to the Jury and the decision of the Jury. In breaking the news, a member of the Jury stated: "Pafos is a city full of initiatives, has become a smart leader, thanks to your forward looking approach, so well done for that! We were particularly impressed by the commitment to meeting ambitious sustainability objectives, with constant monitoring at the same time and a strategy retune in place. And we were also pleased with you realizing your plan to work together with previous winners of this competition. You had a series of successes! You were a capital in ancient times, a former European Capital of Culture and now on top of this, well done, a 2023 European Capital of Smart Tourism, well done again!" This is the first time that a tourist destination in Cyprus wins this contest. Pafos and Seville are the two Capitals of Smart Tourism for 2023, selected amongst seven finalists. The finalists had been selected by a panel of independent experts with specialist knowledge covering each award category (accessibility, sustainability, digitalisation, cultural heritage and creativity), who evaluated all submitted applications. This is the first time that a tourist destination in Cyprus wins this contest. The cities that had been shortlisted for the European Capital of Smart Tourism 2023 award were Aarhus (Denmark), Gijón (Spain), Pafos (Cyprus), Porto (Portugal), San Sebastián (Spain), Seville (Spain), Zagreb (Croatia), as finalists selected from 29 candidates from 13 countries. All shortlisted cities presented their candidatures in front of a European Jury in Brussels on 9 September. Coming with the title of 2023 European Capital of Smart Tourism, communication and branding support throughout 2023 will be provided to the winners. This includes a promotional video, a specially designed hashtag sculpture for the city to display, and tailored promotional actions designed to increase visibility at EU and global level and increase the number of visitors. Smart tourism, according to the European Commission's definition, responds to new challenges and demands in a fast-changing sector, including the evolution of digital tools, products and services; equal opportunity and access for all visitors; sustainable development of the local area; and support to creative industries, local talent and heritage. ECTN having supported this EU initiative from the outset and the candidature of Pafos is very pleased that the current ECTN Presidency Pafos is one of the two European Capitals of Smart Tourism for 2023! Previously, another ECTN member, Bremerhaven had reached the final stage of this prestigious title. We look forward to the synergies between Pafos ECTN Presidency and Smart Tourism Capital of Europe next year! Congratulations and all the best for 2023 to Pafos and Seville! 
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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