Sun&Blue Congress 2025 strengthens European cooperation in tourism and the blue economy

The third edition featured representatives from 37 countries and hosted 11 side events, almost half of which were international, confirming the growing global reach of the congress.

The European Commissioner for Sustainable Transport and Tourism, Apostolos Tzitzikostas, conveyed his institutional support for Sun&Blue through a remote speech.
The side events established themselves as strategic spaces for sharing knowledge, presenting European projects, and generating multilateral alliances. Among them was “Blue Tourism Indicators: Sailing towards common approaches,” promoted by the WestMED Initiative, which focused on the development of common indicators to measure tourism sustainability in coastal destinations. For its part, the session “Designing the Blue Future Together,” organized by AZA4ICE and IFAPA, made progress on circular and inclusive aquaculture models compatible with tourism.

The digital transition took center stage at the CINEA meeting “Sharing Data to Empower Sustainable Maritime Tourism,” with the participation of EMODnet and the SEADITO project. The panel discussed the importance of sharing environmental data in line with the EU Transition Pathway for Tourism and the European Data Strategy. Shared governance of blue destinations was also analyzed in the session organized by Community4Tourism, in collaboration with the INTERREG Euro-MED projects TOURISMO, PORT CREW, and ECOSEAROUTES.

European institutions also played a leading role in “Europe's Advances Towards Sustainability in Tourism,” with the participation of DG MARE, DG MOVE, the European Parliament, and Turismo Andaluz. The debate highlighted the sector's alignment with the European Green Deal and Next Generation EU funds. Another important meeting was the “Mediterranean High-Level Event,” coordinated by ESPO and the Port Authority of Algeciras, which analyzed the challenges facing Mediterranean ports within the framework of the EU Global Gateway strategy.
 

The European vision of water resilience was present at the event organized by the Regional Government of Andalusia with Water Europe, which reviewed progress towards an integrated water strategy in the Green Deal. The internationalization of the Andalusian blue economy was addressed through projects such as B-Blue, Bluefasma-AZA4ICE, and BlueShuttle, while Interreg NEXT MED brought together initiatives focused on sustainable solutions for the Mediterranean.

Sun&Blue 2025 managed to bring together one of the largest institutional representations of the blue economy in Europe. Participants included the European Commission—through CINEA, DG MARE, and DG MOVE—Interreg MED, Interreg NEXT MED, WestMED Initiative, Community4Tourism, EMODnet, Interact Programme, Plan Bleu, and organizations such as IUCN. The scientific ecosystem was represented by IFAPA, International Marine Centre Foundation, ILVO, and universities such as Ca' Foscari, Iuav di Venezia, Murcia, and Patras.

The territorial and port dimension involved EPG Turismo y Deporte de Andalucía, AGAPA, Generalitat Valenciana, the Catalan Tourism Agency, the Autonomous City of Melilla, and the port authorities of Algeciras, Barcelona, and Marseille, together with Puertos del Estado. Innovation and entrepreneurship were represented by Málaga TechPark and CEEI Bahía de Cádiz, while the cultural dimension was covered by the Phoenicians' Route, a Cultural Itinerary of the Council of Europe.

With this broad institutional, academic, and business presence, Sun&Blue Congress 2025 is consolidating its position as a unique space where Europe is collectively moving towards a blue tourism model based on sustainability, digitalization, and multilevel cooperation, strengthening coastal governance and the blue economy throughout the Mediterranean region.