Interparliamentary Conference was opened by the President of the Croatian Parliament, Mr Josip Leko, who stressed the importance of development of tourism as a global phenomenon and pointed to the need of respecting measures of environmental protection and preservation of the landscape.

On the first day of the Interparliamentary Conference, following the opening speech delivered by the President of the Croatian Parliament, were speeches of vice presidents of the Inter-Parliamentary Conference, Mr Goran Beus Richemberg and Mr Ettore Guljelmo Epifani, as well as welcome speeches of heads of delegation attending the conference.

On this occasion it was pointed out that the tourism sector was a sector growing globally and that it was important as a mechanism for integrating many other sectors. Mr Epifani stressed the need of honoring of the Lisbon Treaty when it came to tourism development, as well as the obligation of sound coordination and strengthening of competitiveness of sustainable tourism. He stressed the importance of establishing synergies with the protection and preservation of the environment and culture. Mr Richemberg stressed the importance of having the Ministry of Environment and Nature as a key sector for the improvement of nature and the preservation of natural resources which would contribute to the quality of the tourism offer.

Attending the Interparliamentary Conference are 26 delegations, as well as representatives of European Parliament and European Commission.

The work will be continued with panels and plenary discussion on the importance of supporting sustainable development, which will begin in the Croatian Parliament, and continue in Lošinj.