Resumen
Tourism is one of the economic activities that most greatly affects the European Union, as this is the number one tourist destination in the world. Nevertheless, the current international economic crisis, together with the appearance of new tourist destinations in developing countries, has led to a need for new policies in matters of tourism, which are based in quality of service and in the sustainability of tourism. While this is not an entirely new idea, the drawing up of the European Agenda 21 for Tourism has been a key step forward in realizing this achievement.