With the aim of responding to the challenge of sustainable tourism development in the Mediterranean (diversification of products, increase in average tourist spending, reduction in seasonality, etc.), by encouraging the emergence of novel tourist products, the Malaga Chamber of Commerce has created the Euro-Mediterranean Centre for Knowledge, Innovation and Training in tourism. It also chairs the ASCAME Tourism Commission. In collaboration with the Marseille Provence CCI, the Tunis CCI and the Tangiers CCIS, it drew up the ETINET initiative, the aim of which is to stimulate investment, commercial relations and create synergies between European and Mediterranean tourism operators in two high added-value tourism sub-sectors: cultural and nautical tourism.

Two preliminary studies analysed the evolution of cultural and nautical tourism in the Western Mediterranean and identified investment opportunities in four countries: France, Morocco, Spain and Tunisia.

The results of these two studies were first presented in a workshop organised during the MediTour Forum, which took place in Malaga (Spain) in September 2010. Public and private stakeholders from several Mediterranean countries also presented some tourism projects considered strategic for the development of their respective country and for which a foreign investor or partner is expected.

Following the workshop, BtoB meetings were organised to allow Euro-Mediterranean companies operating in these two sub-sectors to improve their knowledge of the neighbouring markets and to establish business partnerships in view of common projects. 143 companies based in 10 different countries (Algeria, Egypt, France, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Palestine, Spain, Syria and Tunisia) took part in these meetings.