SWOT ANALYSIS OF THE EU TOURISM INDUSTRY

Strengths

  • Existence of attractive tourist destinations such as Paris, Rome, Barcelona, London, Amsterdam
  • Cultural diversity
  • High convenience for travel and highly developed tourism facilities
  • Tourism as an engine of growth and employment
  • Adequate resources to create high quality products
  • Strong distribution network with different contacts with customers
  • Variation in supply
  • Existence of strong accommodation facilities and tour operators
  • Stability and safety of Europe as a tourism destination
  • Wide range of large and small festivals and events
  • Niche products particularly heritage and culture

Weaknesses

  • Highly seasonal use of facilities and labour
  • The age ratio is older than other regions in the world
  • High turnover of staff
  • Unattractive marketing strategies of tourist destinations in Europe
  • Inefficient quality of services in Europe compared to other regions in the world
  • Insufficient co-ordination of value chain
  • Low innovation and lack of regular and high quality statistics
  • Insufficient managerial skills
  • Inflexibility to cope with changes in tourism demand
  • Low labour productivity

Opportunities

  • Integrated web marketing
  • Potential tourism marketing budget increase when combined in EU and national levels
  • Cultural tourism potential
  • Growing income levels in developing countries
  • Changes and development in ICT
  • Demographic change (growing middle and older age market)
  • Increasing importance of environmental concerns
  • Potential demand for innovative products
  • Develop rural experiences and unusual venues to attract new audiences in leisure and business markets
  • Encourage more characterful serviced accommodation and a unique range of local dining facilities.

Threats

  • Too much focus on marketing, not enough on product development
  • The effects of visa restrictions on touristic mobility
  • Fragmented nature of tourism trade
  • High levels of global competition
  • Lack of appropriate educational programmes
  • Existence of low cost business models in many enterprises
  • Bureaucratic difficulties in regulatory framework
  • Insufficient access to finance
  • The sensitive characteristic of tourism (in case of economic crisis or slow down)
  • Global warming and climate change

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