The representatives of the local institutions of all the European islands participated – together with those of the Chambers of Commerce – in the first Convention of the tourist islands of Europe which ended today in Gran Canaria.
During the proceedings , some primary objectives emerged, including the need to promote coordinated action by the European islands for organized and totally sustainable tourism , the fight against global climate change , placing the digital transition at the center of the development of tourism systems and the most modern technologies to maximize environmental protection and multiply the opportunities for travelers to enjoy the best of what the territories have to offer from an environmental, cultural and food and wine point of view.
" Italy - said Michele Cossa, president of the special commission for insularity - is the first European country to recognize the right to insularity in its constitutional charter , an act which must push the other member countries to pay greater attention to island problems. Very positive, therefore, the resolution of the Spanish Senate, which asks the Spanish presidency of the EU, in the second half of 2023, to give impetus to policies for insularity, after the European Parliament itself approved the Pact for Islands".
« The situations of the islands are very different from each other – Cossa underlined again -, but one problem unites them: the dependence on air and sea transport . This is why for tourism and for the entire economy of the islands it is necessary to adopt specific rules, which cannot be the same as those that apply to continental territories, where it is possible to use all means of transport".
In addition to Sardinia, representatives from Gozo, Cyprus, the Canary Islands and the Balearic Islands (Spain), Crete (Greece), Corsica, Martinique, Guadalupe and Reunion (France), Madeira and the Azores (Portugal) and the French Guiana region were present.
(Unioneonline/ss)
