IAAPA GR report January 2020

Political developments

Sustainability more and more important to Hungarian centre-left MEP Istvan Ujhelyi organised an exchange of views in the European Parliament with Alessandra Priante, Director for Europe at the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO). Ms Priante stressed that the UNWTO works under the framework of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals, adding that Europe is the number one sustainable tourism destination. She also welcomed the EC’s priorities in that regard. Ms Priante stressed the following points on the UNWTO’s work:

• Tourism, a priority

• Lead in knowledge creation and policy (international standards; market research; advance national capacity to compile comparable data; exchange good practices)

• Increase UNWTO resources and capacity through partnerships (build strategic partnerships; increase resource mobilisation efforts and international public finance; expand partnerships with private sector and academia to enhance technical and financial capacity to deliver for all Members)

Interventions were made by Greek left-wing MEP and Mr Ujhelyi. Both MEPs have a strong interest in tourism and are on IAAPA’s outreach list for 2020.

Another key highlight was that the emphasis placed by the new European Commission on sustainability makes it necessary for the tourism sector to be more involved in this debate.

Parliamentary question on safety in amusement parks Greek centre-right MEP tabled a Parliamentary question on amusement park safety standards. Mr Zagorakis noted that “frequent accidents at amusement parks throughout Europe naturally raise questions about the existence of safety rules and controls at such venues and compliance.” He then listed a few incidents in and France from the past few months and cited safety standard EN13814/2004, before asking the European Commission the following:

• Whether there is any information on accidents caused by non-compliance with relevant European safety rules • Whether the standard is respected by national authorities and what the Commission does to ensure the standard is implemented.

Whether it considers that the standard is sufficient to prevent such incidents and, if not, what plans the Commission has to ensure visitors are protected.

The European Commission has not yet replied to this question, but, in the meantime, IAAPA has written to the MEP to share its views on the issue, copying its comments to the relevant European Commission department. IAAPA shared information on the new updated standard and attached a summary of its 2017 ride safety report. We stressed that accidents in amusement parks are extremely rare and less than one per million rides. Finally, we offered to meet with the MEP to discuss these matters in more detail.

European Parliament discusses Machinery Directive review The European Parliament held an exchange of views with the European Commission on the latter’s plans to review the Machinery Directive. (Review plans were reported to members back in June 2019).

By way of reminder, the Machinery Directive regulates safety levels of machines placed on the EU market and enables their free movement. Amusement park equipment has historically been outside the scope of this Directive, but some groups have unsuccessfully tried to bring our industry into scope during periodic reviews of the Directive.

During the debate, the European Commission emphasised that the main purpose of the planned review is to clarify some aspects; address incoherence and overlaps with other pieces of legislation; and ensure rules are fit for purpose in light of technological developments (AI, cybersecurity).

Interventions by MEPs focussed on digitalisation, AI and new technologies, with no concrete mentions of the scope of the Directive.

Next steps A study by an independent contractor will be undertaken in 2020 and we will keep a close eye on the terms of reference of the study. Proactive engagement is not advisable at this point, as it risks drawing unnecessary attention to the amusement parks and attractions sector.

The focus on digitalisation is positive news for IAAPA, as it shows that the emphasis is currently not placed on including our industry within scope.

Croatian Presidency stressed sustainable tourism The new Croatian presidency of the Council of the EU has stressed the issue of sustainable tourism in its programme.

Croatia has pledged to support responsible and sustainable tourism development policies, placing special emphasis on encouraging diversity of the tourism offer, in order to boost the development of areas that are underdeveloped in that regard. Its efforts will centre on achieving synergy between the local community and tourists, reducing the seasonality of tourist demand, and encouraging the application of information and communication technologies as well as digitalisation within the tourist system.

Finally, Croatia believes that tourism should be better recognised in the EU’s policies and institutions. It wants to propose the establishment of a European tourism brand for joint promotion of Member States in distant markets.