EFFAT welcomes the European Commission’s plan to publish the first-ever European Sustainable Tourism Strategy in 2026. As tourism destinations face increasing visitor numbers and rising climate risks, this strategy represents a crucial opportunity to balance the economic, social, and environmental dimensions of tourism across the EU.
In its orientation paper adopted on 13 November 2025, EFFAT highlights that tourism workers are essential to the sector’s long-term competitiveness and resilience. A genuinely sustainable tourism model must be rooted in high-quality and secure jobs.
EFFAT calls for a series of key employment measures to strengthen workers’ rights and reinforce the role of trade unions, including:
- Improving wages and collective bargaining coverage.
- Banning precarious contracts,
- Ending abusive subcontracting practices
- Enhancing social protection
- Boosting participation rights
- Granting workplace safety
At the same time, EFFAT urges the European Commission to address long-standing structural challenges in the sector. These include unfair competition from short-term accommodation rental platforms, persistent seasonality, insufficient investment in local and community-based tourism, and the increasing financialisation and concentration of the industrym trends that often encourage low-cost business models and underinvestment in workers.
EFFAT also calls for strict social conditionality to apply to all EU funding directed toward tourism.
Transforming the European tourism sector requires moving beyond short-term thinking. A successful strategy must prioritise social justice, sustainability, and decent work. Addressing persistent challenges such as job insecurity, environmental pressures, and unfair competition will be essential to building a resilient tourism sector that benefits both workers and communities.
