As the third largest EU economic sector, tourism has a wide-ranging impact on economic growth, employment and social development. The European Commission is therefore constantly working on the development of new tools and services contributing to boost the competitiveness of the European tourism sector.
It takes a lot of people and businesses to offer tourist services: advertisers, travel agents, tour operators, transporters, hotels, restaurants and attraction managers, …, who often have different needs.
There are therefore many EU programmes of potential interest for the sector. The new Multi-Annual Financial Framework for 2014-2020 brings simplification at various levels: merger of EU funding programmes for easier access to information, harmonisation of application procedures, etc. Gathering and digesting information about all these thematic programmes remain however a challenge for hard-pressed private and public entities involved in tourism.
A specific guide was therefore necessary. Building on the Info Day organised earlier in 2014, the "Guide on EU funding for the tourism sector (2014-2020)" focuses on practical questions: type of tourism-related actions eligible for funding; type and level of funding; who can apply and how to apply. It also points at concrete examples of what has been funded under previous programmes, as a possible source of inspiration. The guide will be periodically updated.
URL: http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/newsroom/cf/itemdetail.cfm?item_id=7843&lang=en&tpa_id=0&title=Guide-on-EU-funding-for-the-tourism-sector-%282014-2020%29