At present, tourism is one of the fastest growing industries worldwide. At the same time, tourism represents an important sector of the EU economy in terms of income, capitalization of all categories of resources, balanced monetary circulation, stimulating production in other economic sectors due to its inter-sectorial and multiplicative nature and employment, especially by facilitating the integration of vulnerable segments (young people and women) in the labour market. However, in an increasingly saturated marketplace, the development and promotion of European tourism must be guided by the sustainable development framework which focuses on the long-term competitiveness of the sector. Using a set of selective tourism indicators and the cartographic method, this paper investigates the impact (economic, social and environmental) of tourism in the member states and if tourism maintains the centre-periphery configuration of EU. The conclusions of this article draw several action lines for improving tourism sustainable development in EU.
