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LITHUANIA Last Update 25-04-2018 Country: LITHUANIA Last update 25-04-2018 MEMBER STATES' ANNUAL TOURISM REPORTING TEMPLATE Article 3 of Council Decision 86/664/EEC1 of 22 December 1986 establishing a consultation and cooperation procedure in the field of tourism stipulates that: "...each Member State shall send the Commission, once a year, a report on the most significant measures it has taken and, as far as possible, on measures it is considering taking in the provision of services for tourists which could have consequences for travellers from the other Member States. The Commission shall inform the other Member States thereof". The following reporting form aims at facilitating compliance with this Council Decision. SECTION 1 TOURISM ORGANISATION AND GOVERNANCE This section is aimed at reporting on the following: Administrative organisation Territorial organisation Organisation and links between the national tourism authority and the provinces / regions Organisation and links between the national tourism authority and industry associations, stakeholders and customers 1.1. Please provide a short description of the administrative and territorial organisation of public bodies responsible for tourism, indicating the relationship and cooperation between national, regional and local bodies of the core responsibilities and competences of each department (Max. 3000 characters) At the national level the main organization for tourism policy in Lithuania is the Ministry of Economy. The Tourism Policy Division of the Ministry is responsible for: • Tourism policy-making • Tourism planning • International cooperation • Planning of the EU support The Lithuanian State Department of Tourism under the Ministry of Economy is responsible for: • Implementation of the Tourism policy • Targeted tourism marketing 1 http://eur- lex.europa.eu/Notice.do?val=123070%3Acs&lang=en&list=123070%3Acs%2C&pos=1&page=1&nbl= 1&pgs=10&hwords= 1 Country: LITHUANIA Last update 25-04-2018 • Tourism market supervision • Implementation of the EU projects. The Tourism Council, an advisory body of the Ministry of Economy has been established. The members of the Council chaired by the Minister of Economy are tourism related ministries, tourism business associations. At local level tourism is covered by municipalities and Local Tourism Information Centers. There are 3 main tourism business organizations in Lithuania: 1. The Chamber for Tourism of the Republic of Lithuania established in 2011 represents 10 main tourism business associations: The Chamber for Tourism of the Republic of Lithuania established in 2011 and represents 10 main tourism business associations (in 2017 enlarged from 9 to 10): • the Lithuanian Hotel and Restaurant Association established in 2002 represents the hospitality sector and unites more than 300 members. The association protects the rights and interests of members in discussions with government and management institutions; • the Lithuanian Countryside Tourism Association established in 1997, unites 390 members and co-ordinates the activities of members in developing rural tourism; • the Lithuanian Health Resorts Association established in 2007, unites 8 members, promotes health tourism in the country; • the National Tourism Business Association established in 2011, unites 6 members and promotes inbound tourism; • the Lithuanian Camps Association established in 2004, unites 23 members and promotes camping tourism; • the Lithuanian Castles and Manors Association established in 2005, unites 50 members and promotes responsible tourism and national heritage, its preservation and revitalization; • the Lithuanian Private Healthcare Establishment Association established in 1996, unites 100 members and promotes the services of the Private Healthcare Establishments; • the National SPA Association established in 2007, unites 15 members and promotes SPA treatment. • the Lithuanian Golf Federation established in 2000, unites 9 members and promotes golf tourism. - the Lithuanian Tourism information centres association. Unites more than 50 members. 2. The Lithuanian Tourism Association (LTA) established in 1991, representing Lithuanian tour operators and agencies (53 members); 3. The Lithuanian Medical Tourism Association “Medical Lithuania“ established in 2012, representing Lithuanian medical establishments (13 members). 2 Country: LITHUANIA Last update 25-04-2018 1.2. Please provide an organisation chart reflecting the above described administrative and territorial organisation. 1.3. Please list and describe briefly the relationship and main areas of cooperation between national/regional public tourism bodies and the most significant / active private organisations / stakeholders / industry associations /unions / consumer organisations. (Max. 1500 characters) The tourism related organizations cooperate in tourism policy making. 1.4. What is the existing national/regional specific legislation on tourism? (Max. 500 characters) The Law on Tourism was adopted first in 1998, and since then several amendments of the law have been made. The Law on Tourism establishes the principles and priorities of the tourism industry and organising of independent tourism, requirements for provision of tourist services, competence of state or municipal institutions supervising tourism services providers and conditions of utilising tourism resources. The Ministry of Economy is responsible for the transposition of the Directive (EU) 2015/2302 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 November 2015 on package travel and linked travel arrangements, amending Regulation (EC) No 2006/2004 and Directive 2011/83/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council and repealing Council Directive 90/314/EEC (hereinafter referred to as ‘the Directive’) into the national legislation. The draft Law on Tourism transposing provisions of the Directive was submitted to the Parliament of the Republic of Lithuania in October 2017. It was not adopted in 2017, as it required several amendments. Currently the legislative procedure is in process. 3 Country: LITHUANIA Last update 25-04-2018 SECTION 2 - MEMBER STATE ECONOMIC DATA AND TOURISM BUDGETS This section is intended to provide an overview of the key statistical information about the general tourism economic environment of the Member States. Data marked with green is also collected by Eurostat. Data marked with orange is equally collected by the OECD. The data categories match the templates of these two organisations, therefore data reported to the Commission can be transferred / used when reporting to Eurostat and OECD and vice-versa. The statistical data provided in the tables below shall cover the year 2016 and, if available, 2017. The data collected through these sections will also feed into the future Virtual Tourism Observatory. Please use the Excel templates provided below in order to facilitate coherence and comparability of the data. Please note that you are only requested to fill in data that is available in your country. Please insert "N/A" for those that you are not able to provide. Kindly please find attached. SECTION 3 NATIONAL TOURISM POLICY AND STRATEGIES This section aims at collecting information on the Member States general strategic vision as well as the specific objectives of their tourism policies. 3.1. Please provide information in bullet points on the key mission, main medium and long-term objectives and the main targets of your national tourism policy. (Max. 1500 characters) On 12 March 2014, the Government of the Republic of Lithuania approved the Lithuanian Tourism Development Programme 2014-2020. Taking into account the principles of sustainable tourism the Programme sets out the national tourism development objectives, goals and development priorities until 2020. The strategic objective of the Programme is to increase the competitiveness of the tourism sector of Lithuania. The Programme emphasises that to maintain tourist flows it is necessary to develop competitive tourism products, expand tourism infrastructure, promote the export of tourism services to foreign countries, take effective marketing and communication measures and increase awareness about Lithuania. The main objectives of the Programme are to improve the development of tourism infrastructure and the quality of services in Lithuania as a tourism destination, as well as reduce the seasonality of tourism services. The Programme identifies the primary targeted inbound tourism markets in 2014–2020, which are the neighbouring countries, including Poland, Belarus, Russia, Latvia, the Scandinavian countries, Germany and the United Kingdom (from which more than 70 per cent of all tourists come to Lithuania each year). 4 Country: LITHUANIA Last update 25-04-2018 Four priority tourism types have been identified in the Programme: cultural tourism, business tourism, health tourism and green (eco) tourism. The Programme also covers the priority regions for tourism development (Vilnius, the coastal area, the Nemunas Lowland, the Southern Dzūkija, the Eastern Aukštaitija and the Žemaitija Highlands), which offer the most attractive tourism destinations in the municipal territories. In these areas, there are plans to promote and develop the public and private infrastructure of the priority tourism products identified in the Programme. Also, maps are drawn which provide for the European Union structural support to be invested in the tourism destinations. The results of the Programme activities will be evaluated on the basis of the established criteria, which define the extent to which
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