#romania2019.eu/ Bucharest hosting 'Sustainable Tourism - Common Policies of EU Member States' conference April 2-3

Romania is hosting in Bucharest, April 2-3, a conference called "Sustainable Tourism - Common Policies of the EU Member States" as part of its presidency of the Council of the European Union in the first half of 2019. The event will be attended by experts from representative European organisations and specialist bodies of the relevant ministries from the member states of the European Union. According to a press statement released by Romania's Ministry of Tourism, the priorities of the Romanian presidency in this area are digitisation, collaborative economy and the sustainable development of tourism at European level. On the first day of the event, a roundtable will be held on sustainability and the importance of tourism to economic growth and regional development in the EU. On April 3, the conference will be opened by Calin Ile, chairman of the Federation of Romania's Hotel Industry (FIHR), Romanian Tourism Minister Bogdan Gheorghe Trif and by Head of Tourism, Emerging and Creative Industries at European Commission Anna Athanasopoulou. Guest speakers in the first panel of the conference on the role of the tourism industry in EU's Agenda 2030 are Christian de Barrin - CEO, HOTREC; Tom Jenkins - CEO, ETOA , and Nicusor Apostol - deputy chairman of Incoming Romania Association. Addressing the second panel on tourism as a tool for sustainable growth will be Malin-Matei Musetescu, governor of the Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve; Bogdan Papuc - executive director of the Ecotourism Association of Romania; as well as Gabriela Tigu of the Bucharest School of Economics (ASE), Faculty of Business and Tourism, the Tourism and Geography Department. The third issue of the conference, digitising tourism services for sustainable development, will be addressed by Liviu Stanciu, communication manager of the Alba Iulia Smart City Project, Alba Iulia City Hall; Emmanuel Mounier - ETTSA secretary general, and Paavo Virkkunen - CEO of Visit Finland. AGERPRES (RO - author: Mariana Nica, editor: Andreea Marinescu; EN -author: Corneliu-Aurelian Colceriu, editor: Adina Panaitescu)