Revitalizing Euro-Mediterranean tourism: the big project
Tourism is a crucial industry for South and East Mediterranean Countries (SEMCs), which enjoy distinct advantages in comparison with other regions of the world. Yet tourism in these countries remains uneven and fragmented, added to which the prospect of climate change is severely threatening its development and integrity. In the face of radical global transformations in this sector – in particular the high demand for sustainable tourism – SEMCs have everything to gain by better accommodating Euro-Mediterranean tourism. Taking into account changes in the environment and climate, transformation would be based on diversifying tourism in the South and East Mediterranean, and placing greater emphasis on SEMCs’ cultural and natural assets.
The author
A researcher with a Master’s degree in geopolitics (2007-2008) from the École Normale Supérieure, Maxime Weigert is currently working on a doctoral project on the geography of tourism at the Institut de Recherche et d’Études Supérieures du Tourisme (Paris I). Entitled “Tourisme et intégration euro-méditerranéenne : quel rôle pour l’entreprise touristique dans l’évolution du tourisme au Grand Maghreb ?” (Tourism and Euro-Mediterranean integration: what is the role of tourism companies in developing tourism in the Greater Maghreb?), his project studies the interaction between tourism and establishing a “North-South” region in the Mediterranean. It will show whether this regional integration can lead to a qualitative and quantitative boom in Euro-Mediterranean tourism.
Contents
- INTRODUCTION The arrival of “sustainable tourism”
- Background and challenges
- How should the overhaul be structured?
- Conclusion
