GENUINE ECOTOURISM VS GREEN MASS TOURISM FOR EFFECTIVELY DELIVERING EU GREEN DEAL TARGETS RELATED TO TOURISM
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.59957/jctm.v61.i3.2026.18Keywords:
ecotourism, green mass tourism, european green deal, tourism transition pathway, natura 2000, life programme, policy governanceAbstract
This paper aims to examine and distinguish the concepts of ecotourism and green mass tourism in the context of EU’s environmental framework and their suitability to contribute towards delivering EU Green Deal targets in tourism, including 55 % emissions reduction by 2030, Natura 2000 biodiversity protection, and circular economy principles. Through systematic policy analysis of EU legislation, strategic frameworks, and case studies (EU4Prespa versus Interreg Euro-MED Ecolabel programme), ecotourism demonstrates superior alignment via binding LIFE funding instrument, density caps and multi-level governance. Green mass tourism achieves operational efficiency, but structural volume growth undermines achieving absolute environmental targets. SWOT analysis reveals that
ecotourism is better aligned to the EU Green Deal but it falls short on scalability. Policy recommendations include binding conservation KPIs for Ecolabels, dedicated funding and multilevel governance to meet 2030 climate neutrality targets.
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