TOURISM PREPARATORY ACTION

More specific aims of EDEN are to:

– enhance visibility of the European tourist destinations

– create awareness of Europe’s tourist diversity and quality

– promoting all European countries and regions

– help de-congestion, combat seasonality, rebalance the tourist flows towards the non traditional destinations

– awarding sustainable forms of tourism

– create a platform for the exchange of good practices at European level, and

– promote networking between awarded destinations which could persuade other destinations to adopt sustainable tourist development models

The Commission has worked in close cooperation with the Member States for the implementation of EDEN.

The European Commission launched the first phase of the pilot project "European Destinations of Excellence" in 2006.

For the year 2006, the theme of the pilot project was related to rural tourism. The subtitle of the award for this specific year was “Best Emerging Rural Destinations” .

Eligible destinations were those which have implemented in any of the last 3 years initiatives that have contributed to the promotion of the local tourist offer through a better appreciation of the rural natural and cultural heritage. Moreover, each participating Country has outlined more specific criteria of eligibility.

Selections procedures were carried out at national level in the first semester of 2007 by the 9 Members States which joined this pilot project: Austria, Belgium (Wallonia), Cyprus, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia and Malta, plus 1 candidate country: Croatia.

The 10 winning destinations of excellence have been awarded in a European-level conference which took place at the Annual Forum on Tourism in Portugal in October 2007.

If you want to discover the 10 winning destinations, visit our dedicated page.

If you want to know more about how national administration organised the 2007 selection phases, follow me.



The European Commission launched the second phase of the pilot project "European Destinations of Excellence".

The theme of excellence for 2007 is "tourism and local intangible heritage".

Those destinations which have developed a new tourism offer based on the appreciation of their specific local intangible heritage will have the possibility to compete at national level and be selected as 2007 destination of excellence.


18 Member States and 2 candidate countries are participating in the project. The national competitions, open to all eligible destinations according to the selection criteria chosen by the National Administrations in charge of tourism, will take place in the first half of 2008. It is expected that the winning destinations are selected in June 2008.

If you wish to have more information about national selection procedures in your country (selection criteria, application forms, etc), you can get in touch with your national contact point: