DETOCS

Due to the necessity of climate change mitigation and adaptation, the EU has decided to decarbonise its economy by 2050. In parallel, the current energy crisis has skyrocketed the price of energy, threatening the viability and profitability of tourism infrastructure across many member states. As a result, the EU also aims to increase its energy security, self-sufficiency and competitiveness. Furthermore, as a direct result of the Covid-19 pandemic and its subsequent lockdowns and travel restrictions, Europe’s tourism infrastructure has seriously declined – a situation now further exacerbated due to the severe energy crisis.

The Interreg Europe DETOCS – DEcarbonising the TOurism Industry Post Covid-19 Support – project therefore aims to support the recovery of EU tourism infrastructure sector following the Covid-19 pandemic, amidst the energy crisis, in a sustainable and low carbon way. In doing so, DETOCS complies with EU long-term policies for the decarbonisation of the economy. During the project implementation, good practices for sustainable tourism will be identified and exchanged amongst partner regions in Slovenia, Greece, Malta, Finland, Italy, Bulgaria, Hungary and the Netherlands. Meanwhile, project partners will aim to improve regional policy supporting the decarbonisation of the tourism industry through capacity building in the participating regions and the adoption of policies proven to be successful in other regions.

DETOCS contributes to EU Cohesion Policy, and specifically to the “Policy Objective 2 (PO2): A greener, low-carbon Europe”, as it promotes clean and sustainable energy transition of tourism infrastructure. In order to promote the achievement of a climate-neutral Europe by 2050, the targeted polices will contribute to reducing greenhouse gas emissions through new investments in energy efficiency, energy-saving schemes and sustainable renewable energy as set in Directive (EU) 2018/2001.