The regular semi-annual meeting of ECTAA (European association of touroperators and agents) took place on June 13-14 in Brasov, Romania. What was in the focus of attention of European tourist associations:
the EU passenger mobility package, with particular attention to the issues of passenger rights - and what corresponding obligations arise from travel operators and agents, and to the latest updates regarding the Package Travel Directive;
discussion of travel guarantee funds, with a presentation from EGFATT, the European Guarantee Funds Association for Travel and information on the effectiveness of their work in different countries;
issues of sustainable development and exchange of experience as national associations contribute to it;
overview of the development of EU legislative policy on tourism, in particular in the field of taxation;
ways to increase the influence of national associations on the decision-making process in the European Union.
What did we, as representatives of Ukraine, talk about with our European colleagues? The President of the Association Olena Kazmina thanked for the support of the initiatives of the Association of Incoming Tour Operators of Ukraine from the associations of Sweden, Portugal, the Netherlands, Norway, Latvia, Spain and others, which during the year gave us the opportunity to be the voice of Ukraine to the world tourism community. With special gratitude, I mentioned Sweden's initiative to host the children of our defenders for summer vacation in June 2024 - more details will be provided in a separate post. She spoke about the programs adopted at the level of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) during Ukraine's presidency of the Commission for Europe aimed at sustainable development and preservation of the ecological balance. In communication with the representatives of the countries, they reached an agreement on further cooperation to support Ukraine.
The program after the official working days allows you to better get to know the country that hosts the next ECTAA meeting. This time, the delegates spent 1.5 days exploring Romanian Transylvania - and it became a real discovery for most of them. We hope that one day the #ECTAA semi-annual meeting will be hosted by Ukraine, and we are approaching this day with all our might!
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