Nation branding as a marketing and socioeconomic concept has been in existence since 1998, when a British consultant named Simon Anholt surprised the business world and the political establishment by suggesting that places and nations can be viewed as brands. Since that time the idea has made significant recognition worldwide.

The tourism sector is hereby defined as private and public entities promoting tourism destinations or developing tourism services. This development can be direct (e.g. National tourism offices) or indirect (entities training tourism workers  e.g. universities organising a master in tourism management.

The tourism sector encompasses a diverse range of stakeholders, from governments and public sector agencies to companies, private sector associations, multilateral and intergovernmental organisations and non-profit organisations:

EU

In value nets, information is moving in real-time across the cooperating businesses, the relationships among the partners is dynamic and varies with changing conditions, and the operating targets of the business include not just efficiency but also agility. In value nets, the business value is created by businesses and their suppliers, buyers, and partners through the combination and enhancement of services provided by all participants.

1. European Energy Forum (EEEF) : The EEF provides an opportunity for its members to gain a better understanding of energy and energy related issues, through frank and informal discussions on the immensely varied issues present within the world of energy today.

Intergroups can be formed by Members from any political group and any committee, with a view to holding informal exchanges of views on particular subjects and promoting contact between Members and civil society. Intergroups are not Parliament bodies and therefore may not express Parliament's opinion.

The Tourism Europe Forum (TEF) will aim to foster a dialogue between the European Parliament and the tourism industry. It will provide a forum for an open and informal discussion of the policy issues affecting tourism in Europe. The Forum will NOT lobby.

In order to raise awareness about the recent launch of the European Travel Advocacy Coalition (ETAC), over 150 e-mails were sent to MEPs having joined the European Parliament Tourism Intergroup as well as to MEPs members of the EP Transport and Tourism Committee and last but not least to European Commission civil servants involved in Tourism. We also proceeded to having a translation of the English ETAC presentation into French, Spanish and Italian.

We are most grateful for the courteous replies of the following persons:

The purpose of the European Parliamentary Tourism Forum under the acronym TEF would be to facilitate the exchange of information between the European Parliament and stakeholders interested in tourism. The TEF would be a non-profit and independent organisation supported by a wide range of MEPs from different political groups through a Steering Committee.

Main Purposes

Written by: Paul Temporal  based at Said Business School, University of Oxford, prior to which he lived in Asia for over twenty years. He has written several best-selling books on branding including his latest on “Branding for the Public Sector”.