The art of balance: Sustainable Tourism Partnership meets in Genoa
Genoa is a city constantly negotiating with itself. A port city balancing between memory and movement, between permanence and transition. Its narrow medieval streets create a sense of intimacy and proximity, while only a few steps away the horizon suddenly opens, where the sea meets the sky. Historic artisan workshops survive beside cruise terminals and contemporary infrastructure. Nature enters the city unexpectedly. The city expands vertically and horizontally at the same time. Contrasts are everywhere, yet somehow they coexist without cancelling one another.
And perhaps that is what tourism increasingly looks like in Europe today.
Not a fixed model, but a continuous exercise in balance. Between growth and quality of life. Between visitors and residents. Between preservation and adaptation. Between immediate economic opportunities and long-term urban resilience.
This idea quietly framed the discussions of the Sustainable Tourism Partnership throughout the meeting.
Balance is also the principle running through the Partnership’s Action Plan, whose implementation is steadily progressing and already producing concrete outputs. The recently published Guidelines for Climate-Friendly and Resilient Urban Destinations support cities in connecting tourism strategies with climate action planning. Two handbooks focusing on sustainability certifications and funding opportunities for tourism SMEs are already available, helping smaller businesses navigate the complexity of the green transition.
The coming months will bring additional results:
A matchmaking tool supporting digital skills and tourism services is under development.
Work continues on the handbook dedicated to tourism diversification, exploring how cities can redistribute tourism flows across time, space and activities.
Another handbook focuses on accessible tourism, reinforcing the idea that when destinations are designed inclusively, cities themselves become more liveable.
Local retail as an asset for tourism is also explored and will add useful insights.
Alongside these outputs, the Partnership is also working on a concise and practical common output that will consolidate lessons learned across all Actions into a more accessible and operational format.
The discussions in Genoa moved naturally between implementation and reflection. Partners exchanged updates on Actions, coordination challenges, future outputs and the broader direction of the Partnership itself. The question was no longer only what has been produced, but where this collective work should go next.
Key takeaways and reflections
Only a few weeks earlier, the Sustainable Tourism Partnership participated in the first European Commission Technical Dialogue on Sustainable Tourism, organised in the framework of the EU Agenda For Cities and followed by the EUI Focused Policy Lab. In Copenhagen, the European Commission opened a direct exchange with cities to better understand what should shape the upcoming EU Tourism Strategy and the future guidelines on balanced tourism management.
In many ways, Genoa became the continuation of that conversation.
If Copenhagen focused on listening to cities, Genoa focused on positioning the Partnership within what comes next. The upcoming EU Tourism Strategy, expected in September 2026, became a central reference point throughout the meeting. Partners reflected on how the Action Plan, its outputs and future priorities could align with this emerging framework, while preserving the grounded and practical nature of the Partnership’s work.
The possibility of prolonging the Partnership’s activities beyond the current timeline was openly discussed. Not as a purely administrative extension, but as a way to maintain continuity at a moment where tourism governance at European level is entering a more structured phase. Questions around cruise economies, short-term rentals, technology and tourism data systems surfaced as potential areas requiring further collective work.
The second day shifted the attention toward practices, tools and local experiences.
The City of Genoa presented its evolving tourism strategy through a perspective deeply connected with urban life. The numbers themselves already tell part of the story: more than 3.5 million overnight stays in 2025 and a 41% increase compared to 2019. Yet the discussion focused less on growth itself and more on how to shape it. Genoa’s approach revolves around longer stays, year-round tourism, accessibility, sustainability and local pride. Becoming “a city to live in, not only to visit” emerged less as a slogan and more as a direction guiding decisions around mobility, inclusion, cultural heritage and digitalisation.
Several projects presented during the meeting reflected another important theme running through both Copenhagen and Genoa: trust.
The HERIT ADAPT initiative explored how digital tools such as AI storytelling, XR technologies and digital twins can support heritage management and promote lesser-known sites, while strengthening the relationship between local authorities and communities. The discussion around the Museo Chiossone case study revealed how even highly technical interventions, signage systems, digital documentation or ventilation infrastructure, ultimately shape how people access and experience places. The REMED platform brought attention back to preparedness and climate adaptation, emphasising informed decision-making and vulnerability assessment as essential elements for resilient destinations.
The presentation by the City of Venice added another important layer to the discussion, bringing participants closer to the realities of managing tourism in one of Europe’s most emblematic and complex urban destinations. Current updates on the city’s strategy highlighted the ongoing effort to balance visitor flows with the protection of everyday urban life, cultural heritage and local communities. Measures related to visitor management, regulation tools, monitoring mechanisms and awareness-raising reflected a broader transition from reacting to tourism pressures toward building a more structured and long-term governance approach. The exchange around Venice’s experience resonated strongly within the Partnership, illustrating how cities are continuously adapting their strategies while navigating evolving social, economic and spatial dynamics.
Across these examples, a common thread emerged. Innovation in tourism is rarely about technology alone. It is about creating the conditions for better decisions, stronger cooperation and longer-term trust between institutions, residents and visitors.
The final discussions returned to the future of the Partnership itself. Questions of continuity, governance, resources and commitment remained open, alongside reflections on new forms of cooperation, including possible network structures and funding opportunities. There was also a strong sense that the work developed so far has already created something valuable: a space where cities facing very different realities can still build common approaches.
The study visit through Genoa’s historic artisan shops brought many of the discussions of Action 6 into physical space. Walking through the narrow streets of the historic centre, participants experienced firsthand the fragile balance between tourism, local retail and urban identity that had been discussed throughout the meeting and during the Technical Dialogue in Copenhagen. Long-standing family businesses, traditional workshops and small local retailers illustrated how economic activity, cultural heritage and everyday urban life remain deeply interconnected. The visit naturally continued into the “Pesto Experience”, where members gathered in a historic palace to prepare pesto alla Genovese together using traditional methods. Beyond its symbolic value, the experience reflected one of the core ideas repeatedly emerging throughout the meeting: tourism becomes more meaningful and sustainable when it creates genuine connections with local culture, people and traditions.
And perhaps that is why Genoa felt like the right place for this meeting.
A city where contradictions remain visible, yet coexist. Where movement does not erase identity. Where adaptation happens without fully abandoning memory. Much like tourism itself.