TOURISM AND REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT IN THE EUROPEAN UNION

Issues of regional development and social cohesion have been a major focal point of European Union policy since the 1970. Tourism has become a part of EU planning and policies in the 1990 for a number of reasons. First, tourism is now recognized as an important economic activity. Second, the transnational character of some tourism businesses has necessitated the development of a European - wide policy framework. Third, the cultural impact of tourism have raised concerns over the retention of cultural identity while at the same time attempting to promote the concept of Europe. Fourth reason is the movement of pollution across national boundaries and the possible movement of capital to locate where environmental standards and costs are lowest. Indeed, the environmental dimensions of tourism have developed as a major EU concern in the tourism area with the need to set sustainable tourism within the context of sustainable development being recognized in the green paper of Tourism from DGXXIII of the European Commission (1995). The paper argue that the attractiveness of a tourist destination, and indeed the economic basis of tourism, depends on the conservation and appropriate management of cultural and natural resources.