On 2 October, a roundtable to answer the question "Do we earn with sustainable tourism?” took place with the participation of exponents from the academic, institutional, profit and non-profit world. Through the lenses of the Sustainable Development Goals of the 2030 Agenda, the discussion highlighted the strengths of sustainable tourism, a sector for a long time considered poor and unattractive, and now recognised as essential to foster economic, social and cultural development.

The event was organised by CISP - International Committee for the Development of Peoples as part of the CROSSDEV - Cultural Routes for Sustainable Social and Economic development in Mediterranean project, funded by the European Union through the ENI CBC Med Programme. The project involves the Iter Vitis Route and the Phoenicians’ Route, Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe, which both have strong links with its areas of intervention in the Mediterranean.

Mr. Stefano DOMINIONI, Executive Secretary of the Enlarged Partial Agreement on Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe (EPA) and Director of the European Institute of Cultural Routes, spoke about Cultural Routes as an investment for sustainable tourism and the success of the Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe Programme, recognized as a sustainable development tool at a local and participatory level.

Among the participants, Mr. Gianluca FALCITELLI, CISP Director for Middle East and Mediterranean, Mrs. Deborah REZZOAGLI, CISP Director for East Europe and Asia, Mrs. Patrizia BATTILANI, Director of the Center for Advanced Studies in Tourism-CAST (University of Bologna) and Mrs. Dora DI FRANCESCO, Director of Service II, Directorate General for Tourism of the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities and Tourism, took part in the discussion moderated by Mrs. Emanuela PANKE, President of the Iter Vitis European Federation.

The complete video recording of the event is available here.