Links

USEFUL LINKS

	Commission's Directorates-General and Services
	EC Enterprise DG Tourism Directorate
	EC Internet Roadmap Tourism
	Eur-op
	European Travel Commission (ETC)
	ETC New Media Review
	The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC)
	Eurostat
	European Tourism Portal
	European Commission representation in the United Kingdom
	Information Society Technologies
	Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)
	SOLVIT

Commission's Directorates-General and Services

http://europa.eu.int/comm/dgs_en.htm
http://europa.eu.int/index-en.htm

EC Enterprise DG Tourism Directorate

http://europa.eu.int/comm/ent/tourism/tourism.html

"Tourism enterprises often are undercapitalised and have problems to obtain financing from banks. This website below has links to a number of initiatives that DG Enterprise has launched, or has been actively involved in, to improve SMEs' access to finance"

http://europa.eu.int/comm/enterprise/entrepreneurship/financing/index.htm

EC Internet Roadmap Tourism

The European Commission has set up an Internet Roadmap website containing
information on various EU programmes, schemes, funds, initiatives and
actions of interest to the tourism sector and establishing Internet links to
the homepages of the relevant programmes. The objective of this new Internet
guide is to make available to actors in the tourism sector and to other
interested people, a comprehensive and structured overview of the
opportunities the Community offers to help the development of sustainable
tourism.

With this guide the Commission presents a concrete tool that was developed
in furtherance of two important documents on EU tourism policy:

- the guidelines in the Commission's Communication on Enhancing Tourism's
Potential for Employment(1) that placed a special emphasis on the need to
communicate essential information on Community initiatives to all those
interested, and to raise their awareness and involvement;

- the Conclusions of the Council of Ministers on the Internal Market of
21 June 1999 that called upon the Commission to "facilitate the exchange and
dissemination of information, notably through new technologies".

The Internet Roadmap presents Community schemes classified into specific
fields of interest - such as training and support for employment creation,
business support and co-operation, co-operation between regions, cultural
events supporting tourism, or research and technological development.
Suitable examples of tourism-related actions that have been implemented
under each programme demonstrate the relevance of the programme to tourism.

The Internet Roadmap also presents programme descriptions, target groups
and requirements, budget allocations, and grant rates in a summary format,
and lists the relevant programme homepages.

As a source for further information at national and regional level this
tool recommends the Commission's Euro Info Centres Network, and introduces
various ways to get in touch with an Euro Info Centre.

A translation of the Internet guide into other Community languages is
foreseen at a later stage. For the new Internet Roadmap hit the following
homepage:

http://europa.eu.int/comm/enterprise/services/tourism/index_en.htm

Eur-op

EUR-OP is the official publisher of the institutions and other bodies of the European Union

http://ted.eur-op.eu.int

ETC New Media Review

Brings together all the latest news on Internet usage worldwide
Provides graphs comparing countries and showing trends
Is updated regularly.

http://www.etcnewmedia.com/review

This site is a useful resource when preparing presentations, marketing plans or research exercises. It contains details on Internet usage, particularly for travel purposes, in 56 countries around the world. The site is free to use and is updated on a weekly basis. It can be used to produce graphs showing comparisons between countries, and also gives details on the use of the Internet for researching travel arrangements, planning vacations and online bookings. Each country also has a section on the use of mobile devices and broadband take-up. You may also register to receive a free monthly update on the latest developments in the world of Internet usage.

European Travel Commission

EUROPEAN TRAVEL COMMISSION (ETC), the organisation responsible for the worldwide promotion overseas of Europe as a tourist destination.

http://www.etc-corporate.org

The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC)

The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) is the Global Business Leaders' Forum for Travel & Tourism.

http://www.wttc.org

Eurostat

Statistical Office of the European Communities

http://europe.eu.int/en/comm/eurostat/serven/home.htm

European Tourism Portal

http://www.visiteurope.com

European Commission representation in the United Kingdom

http://www.cec.org.uk

Information Society Technologies

IST is conceived and implemented as a single and integrated programme that reflects the convergence of information processing, communications and media technologies.

http://www.cordis.lu/ist/home.html

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)

http://www.oecd.org/topic/0,2686,en_2649_34389_1_1_1_1_37433,00.html

SOLVIT

http://ec.europa.eu/solvit

SOLVIT is a user-friendly on-line service, free of charge, designed to help EU citizens and businesses find solutions to their internal market problems.