From airports to UNESCO sites and cruise terminals to congress halls, buses and coaches are the invisible infrastructure keeping Europe’s tourism moving. Their contribution – millions of passengers carried, billions in economic impact, and essential support to sustainability and cohesion – makes them irreplaceable. As the EU shapes the future of tourism policy, one truth is clear: there is no sustainable tourism without buses and coaches, argues CONFEBUS Director Jaime Rodríguez in this guest article. /
European tourism has entered a decisive moment.
Visitor numbers are fully recovered, mobility demands are changing, and the European Commission is preparing its “European strategy on sustainable tourism” for 2026.
In this context, buses and coaches quietly sustain the movement of millions of travellers each year. They connect airports, ports, hotels, cultural destinations, congress centres and rural areas. Without them, Europe’s tourism ecosystem could not function.
Cruise tourism: moving millions on wheels
Europe remains the world’s second largest cruise market, welcoming more than seven million passengers annually. (....)