Cynthia Ní Mhurchú MEP for Ireland South who is a member of the European Parliament sustainable Transport and Tourism Committee and Member of the Steering Committee of the Tourism Task Force Group of MEPs across the EP, this week in Cork launches Renew Europe’s new position paper on the future of European tourism, setting out an ambitious vision to strengthen the sector’s competitiveness, resilience and sustainability while recognising tourism as a strategic industrial ecosystem that supports millions of jobs and communities across Europe.
She will be joined at the launch by President of Renew Europe Valérie
Hayer (France), her fellow Committee Members and Irish Tourism and Hospitality leaders and stakeholders at the Metropole Hotel, Cork City Centre on Tuesday evening June 9th at 6pm.
Ní Mhurchú said she is proud to launch this paper in her home constituency of Ireland South and its biggest city Cork, as tourism is such a vital industry for the Irish economy.
“Almost 230,000 people in Ireland work in the Tourism and Hospitality
Sector which represents about 9% of the total labour force in the
Country.”
The landmark policy paper argues that Europe requires a more
strategic, better-coordinated, and heavily resourced framework. It
places a core focus on expanding economic competitiveness, protecting vulnerable local communities, embracing digital innovation, and shielding small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) from geopolitical shocks and extreme weather threats.
Tourism represents one of the European Union’s most critical economic pillars and stands out as the EU’s fourth-largest export category. The sector serves as a massive driver of growth across an interconnected network of businesses, including accommodation providers, transport networks, hospitality venues, cultural institutions, heritage sites, food producers, indigenous craft, retail outlets, and localized services.
Ní Mhurchú said : “Tourism is not a luxury; it is a strategic industrial ecosystem that underpins the economic lifeblood of my constituency. From the coastal villages of Clare, Kerry and Cork to the cultural trails of Carlow, Kilkenny, Wexford, and Waterford – not forgetting the Rock of Cashel in Tipperary and Avondale Estate in Wicklow – the local economies depend on a vibrant visitor landscape. However, the cross-cutting nature of tourism has historically left it stranded across fragmented departments. This paper establishes clear investment priorities, key performance indicators, and workforce training and development goals to treat tourism with theserious economic status it deserves.”A central pillar of the newly introduced strategy is a structural overhaul of EU governance. Ní Mhurchú and her co-authors are calling for asignificantly reinforced and better-resourced Tourism Unit within theEuropean Commissions DG MOVE. This expanded unit would act as the principal coordination mechanism between European institutions,Member States, industry stakeholders, and regional tourism bodies.Crucially, the position paper demands the creation of a standalone,dedicated tourism budget line in the next Multiannual FinancialFramework (MFF) to provide long-term investment stability.
Ní Mhurchú continued: “We are demanding a dedicated EU funding stream that cannot be arbitrarily raided. For too long, tourism has relied on leftover allocations from wider regional funds. Stable, guaranteed funding will empower us to deliver a robust future Sustainable Tourism Strategy, helping us properly deploy harmonised data collection to manage visitor flows, mitigate overcrowding or overtourism , and support effective local spatial planning.”Reflecting on structural vulnerabilities exposed during recent history, the position paper addresses resilience. Given that roughly 90% of tourism enterprises are small and medium-sized businesses, the sector remains highly exposed to severe market disruptions.
To counteract this, Ní Mhurchú has advocated for a permanent EU Tourism Crisis Management Mechanism that integrates short, medium, and long-term response frameworks. This mechanism would feature a pre-approved toolkit for fast deployment and a targeted “first aid kit” financial instrument to deliver immediate liquidity to struggling operators during pandemics, geopolitical disruptions, or climate-induced extreme weather crises.Ní Mhurchú added: “We must build thick financial and operational shields around our small family-run operators, B&Bs, short-terms lettings, and local tourgroups who suffer disproportionately when crises hit. Furthermore, this paper explicitly looks toward the future by supporting specialized niche sectors that match our regional strengths in Ireland South. We are calling for targeted, enhanced EU funding support to develop coastal and maritime travel, rural and Agri-tourism, and health, wellness, and self-care tourism. This will diversify our seasonal markets and drive sustainable growth directly into peripheral and rural communities.”
The position paper also balances economic growth with social responsibility, advocating for improved transport intermodality to link remote mountainous or island communities. It strongly endorses human-centric artificial intelligence and digital innovations , including the digitalisation of the Schengen visa process , while emphasizing that technology must always complement, rather than replace, authentic, face-to-face hospitality and cultural experiences.
