The first meeting of the newly established Technical Group on Sustainable Tourism (SustTourism) of the Common Maritime Agenda (CMA) was held virtually on 20 March 2025. This gathering brought together representatives from Black Sea littoral countries, regional organisations, and key initiatives, all of whom are crucial for the future of SustTourism activities.
The meeting was opened by the Türkiye and Georgia National Hubs (NHs), who outlined SustTourism’s main objectives. Their focus is on promoting synergies between policy, science, and local stakeholders to support sustainable maritime and coastal tourism, as well as underwater cultural heritage in the Black Sea. The NHs also highlighted significant challenges to be addressed, such as environmental degradation and over-concentration in specific hotspots. In this overview session, participants from related regional projects and initiatives, such as WestMED Assistance Mechanism, Ilia State University, and the Conference of Peripheral Maritime Regions (CPMR), shared their recent research findings, funding mechanisms, and collaborative efforts to support sustainable tourism development.
Participants from this first SustTourism meeting, by each country delegation, shared their perspectives and priorities:
Bulgaria discussed their efforts in underwater archaeological exploration, emphasising the need to align cultural heritage with tourism and to support state-led exploration and documentation of archaeological sites.
Georgia highlighted the need to diversify tourism with cultural and ecological products beyond the coast. They noted the underdevelopment of underwater cultural heritage tourism and the need for infrastructure improvements, particularly for artificial diving sites and the identification of diving locations. Environmental concerns, such as monitoring water quality and mitigating pollution, were also mentioned.
Romania stressed the importance of aligning culture and tourism policies, including cross-ministerial coordination. They proposed developing a cultural heritage route and creating a network of museums across the Black Sea, in which they will be providing support for a joint cultural heritage route based on underwater artifacts.
Türkiye focused on preserving marine cultural heritage and exploring its use in sustainable tourism. They emphasised the need for increased investment in infrastructure and education and the assessment of underwater assets for diving suitability.
This first SustTourism meeting concluded with defining collaborative and timeframe outputs, including the development of an Action Plan, a Roadmap, and exploring governance mechanisms and cross-participation with initiatives such as WestMED Initiative and its Sustainable Tourism Technical Group. Participants also plan to create subgroups around specific working areas, facilitating ideation for project opportunities and expert engagement. These next steps will be discussed in the upcoming SustTourism meeting expected in June.