A regional initiative for sustainable coastal and maritime tourism
Welcome to the Research and Monitoring Centre for Coastal and Maritime Tourism in the Eastern Mediterranean (RMCMED) — a regional initiative led by the Hellenic Ministry of Tourism under the aegis of UN Tourism (World Tourism Organization).
RMCMED was established to address a shared challenge across the Eastern Mediterranean: coastal and maritime tourism is a defining economic and cultural force for our region, yet it places sustained pressure on fragile coastlines, marine ecosystems, and the communities that depend on them. Sound policy requires sound evidence — and evidence requires a shared methodology, comparable data, and continuous dialogue among the countries that share this basin.
Our purpose, in one line
To measure, monitor and evaluate the sustainability of coastal and maritime tourism in the Eastern Mediterranean, and to make that evidence available to the policymakers, destinations, researchers and industry actors who shape the sector.
What you will find on this site
- About — the Centre's mission, governance, legal basis, and its institutional relationship with UN Tourism and the Statistical Framework for Measuring the Sustainability of Tourism (MST).
- Metrics — the thematic groups and indicators that structure our monitoring work across the three dimensions of sustainability (economic, social and environmental).
- Partner Countries — the participating national administrations contributing data, expertise and local knowledge to the shared framework.
- Publications — the methodological framework, studies and reports produced by the Centre and its partners.
- News — updates from local consultations, working sessions and ministerial activity across the network.
A network, not a single institution
RMCMED is a cooperative network. The Joint Statement signed in Messinia on 7 October 2024 brought together the Ministers of Tourism — and representatives of Ministers of Tourism — of Albania, Croatia, Cyprus, Greece and Montenegro, who jointly endorsed the development of the Centre and committed to a shared agenda built on measurement, monitoring and evidence-based policy making.
The Centre operates within the Hellenic Ministry of Tourism (Research Directorate) and is grounded in Greek Law 5061/2023 (Article 5). It works in close cooperation with UN Tourism through a Memorandum of Understanding signed in June 2021 and renewed in June 2024.
We invite ministries, national tourism organisations, regional and local authorities, research institutions, industry associations and civil society partners to engage with the Centre's work and contribute to a shared, evidence-based future for coastal and maritime tourism in the Eastern Mediterranean.