On the occasion of the Hellenic Presidency of the EU Council, the European Commission, the Ministry of Tourism of Greece and the Greek National Tourism Organisation organise a High Level Conference on Coastal and Maritime Tourism, as well an an Informal Ministerial Meeting.

In view of the upcoming Communication on the European strategy for coastal and maritime tourism of the European Commission, this High-Level Conference on Coastal and Maritime Tourism is organized in order for participants to discuss the challenges, problems and opportunities of the maritime tourism sector.

In particular, this meeting will serve as a platform to share ideas and practices related to, inter alia, coastal tourism, cruise tourism, yachting, coastal management, maritime clusters, maritime cultural heritage, and cooperation between the public and the private sector in order to strengthen the promotion of sustainable maritime and coastal tourism in the EU, a major concern in an era of rising competitiveness from many other parts of the world.

The discussions will also be aligned with the Commission’s Communication “Europe, the world’s No 1 tourist destination – a new political framework for tourism in Europe” (2010) and the promotion of the development of a sustainable, responsible and high-quality tourism for the EU.

Within the framework of the High-Level Conference, an Informal Ministerial Meeting for Tourism will also be held.