european tourism forum 2013 vilnius, 17/18-october-2013 eurogîtes european federation of rural...

European Tourism Forum 2013Vilnius, 17/18-October-2013

EuroGîtesEuropean Federation of Rural Tourism

From Competition to Co-operationAndy Woodward

President, EuroGites


Member organisations from: Austria

BelarusBelgium (Wallonie + Flanders)Bosnia-HerzegóvinaBulgariaCroatiaCyprusCzech RepublicEstoniaFrance GeorgiaGermanyGreeceHungaryIsraelItalyLatviaLithuaniaLuxemburgNetherlandsNorwayPolandPortugalRomaniaSerbiaSloveniaSlovakiaSpain SwitzerlandUnited Kingdom


Rural Tourism 2013• total offer 360-450.000 units• 20% “Agro”-tourism (working

farms)• < 20% “B&B style”, > 80% self-

catering• 15% of bed capacity in Europe

IMPORTANT FOR SUCCESS:

• Diversification of target markets

• Valorization of Rural Assets • Visibility of Destination


… more than business:

• Multiplicator effect: 4 beds = 1 job• Valorization of unused and “free” resources• Makes heritage, nature, and tradition profitable and

thus, SUSTAINABLE• Satisfies emotional needs• Flexible and individual for many niche targets • Gender: involves and depends mostly on women• Differential income that allows basic services to

survive• Low entrance barrier makes participation easy


A Partner in The EU FamilySince 1991, EuroGites works on transnational / EU-wide

products

• only EU tourism segment with defined product criteria since 2005• Common Equipment and Quality Assessment criteria since 2005

(industry-based initiative similar to HOTREC "HotelStars" ) including online benchmarking http://quality.eurogites.org

• Actively involved and participating in preparation of the actual European Tourism Policy COM (2010) 352 and implementation plan

• Brainstorming and specific proposals around the 50000 Tourists Initiative• Formal labelization / Brand as statutory task, work group constituted in

2012• Elaboration of common criteria and operative products on segments

such as– ex-European markets in low seasons– Family holidays – Seniors (in course)

http://quality.eurogites.org/


…that still has to grow up

• Support to EU Tourism Policy since start (TSG - Tourism Sustainability Group)• Great hopes after the COM (2010)352 / 21 actions plan - we expected it to

finally find support to previous work and initiatives• Reality remains far from expectations - so far, few to none results that are

feasible, tangible, and useful for the reality. • Reasons? - we only can guess. Intentions were good, so why does it not

happen in reality?

How to improve? - some ideas:– Forum or advisory group of all tourism-related stakeholders to the Commission

(--> follow example of TSG)– Ask stakeholders about how to implement policies (good example: recent Senior

call) – Strict preference on really multi-transnational actions (involving 10 or more

countries)– Promotion (via agreements with ETC, or direct on occasions such as 50000

Tourist workshops)


Ačiū - Thank you !

for your attention

european tourism forum 2013 vilnius, 17/18-october-2013 eurogîtes european federation of rural...

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