The Flagship Initiative “Towards a Sustainable, Inclusive and Resilient Blue Tourism in the Mediterranean” (MED Blue Tourism) was approved by the 21st Meeting of the Mediterranean Commission on Sustainable Development (MCSD), held last June in Athens. The initiative will now be submitted for endorsement at the 24th Meeting of the Contracting Parties to the Barcelona Convention and its Protocols (COP24), which will take place from 2–5 December in Cairo, Egypt.

About the MED Blue Tourism Initiative

The MED Blue Tourism flagship initiative unites leading Mediterranean stakeholders to drive a transformative shift in coastal and marine tourism—moving from practices that degrade marine and coastal ecosystems toward models that promote ecosystem restoration, climate resilience, and inclusive prosperity.

Objectives

The MED Blue Tourism Initiative aims to:

• Promote sustainable blue tourism policies and practices through participatory, bottom-up approaches.
• Strengthen multi-stakeholder cooperation, ensuring the inclusion of youth, women, and local communities.
• Support the development of regional and national roadmaps to enhance cooperation on sustainable tourism within and across Mediterranean regions.
• Build on existing regional, national, and local initiatives by establishing a Mediterranean Blue Tourism Innovation Task Force to foster innovative policy dialogue.
• Foster innovation, monitoring, and capacity building to support resilient, low-impact tourism economies across the Mediterranean.

Governance and Coordination

The initiative will be politically coordinated and supported by a coalition of Mediterranean countries under the Barcelona Convention, with shared expertise, interest, and influence in advancing blue tourism.
Leadership will be provided by:

• Eco-Union,
• Institute for Sustainable Development and International Relations (IDDRI),
• IUCN Centre for Mediterranean Cooperation, and
• Plan Bleu / Regional Activity Centre.

A Shared Vision for the Mediterranean

By working collaboratively across governance levels and sectors, MED Blue Tourism aims to make blue tourism a cornerstone of a just, inclusive, and sustainable blue economy in the Mediterranean and beyond.