Clúster

• This initiative, co-financed by the European Commission, seeks to empower local communities by turning them into co-development laboratories for circular and sustainable tourism ecosystems.
• The project consortium is made up of 7 organizations from 6 EU countries. UVIGO, the only Spanish representative.
• The call is aimed at MSMEs in areas related to tourism, selecting 16 per country.

The international Ecotours project is an initiative co-financed by the European Commission within the framework of the Single Market Program (Pillar PMU/SME). This project foresees the provision of direct services and financial support to MSMEs proposed by the members of the consortium to promote the adoption of sustainable development practices and convert areas facing socio-economic challenges into new circular, green and sustainable tourist destinations.

The project is aimed at micro-enterprises in the local communities of Sicily, in Italy; Western Macedonia, in Greece; Corsica, in France; Nicosia, in Cyprus; Csongrád-Csanád County in Hungary and Galicia in Spain, focusing on natural and cultural heritage of international importance. Ecotours aims to improve the training of tourism micro-enterprises and community tourism ecosystems to promote circular tourism and adopt environmental principles, practices and standards for their businesses.

The project consortium is made up of 7 organizations from 6 European Union countries, with the University of Vigo being the only Spanish representative. With the aim of revitalizing circular tourism, Ecotours is launching a call for MSMEs that wish to improve services related to ecotourism and co-develop new circular and sustainable tourism itineraries by participating in 5 activities: consulting and coaching for the development of circular businesses; consultancy and certification in the field of sustainability; participation in a transnational study visit; support for the creation of a circular ecotourism itinerary; and the design of a proposal for the final innovation contest.

Interested companies may formalize their application through this form (in English) until Thursday, August 10, at 5:00 p.m. :00 hours. The program will bring together up to 96 MSMEs in fields related to tourism, 16 for each partner country represented in the consortium. Each selected beneficiary would receive financial support, indicatively, of 6,650.00 euros. For the resolution of doubts about the call, you can contact UVIGO at the following addresses: loli.docampo@uvigo.es and pilar.munoz@uvigo.es, or visit the official website of the project.