Is Tourism, – be it cultural, rural, sustainable, or all of the above – on your region’s list of priorities? If the answer is yes, then this brief article may be the starting point for a great journey, destination EU projects funding opportunities!

The online guide recently published by DG Grow (Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs) highlights the wide range of funding programmes financed by the new budget (the Multiannual Financial Framework 2021-2027 and Next-Generation EU) which are directly or indirectly related to tourism and thus can be of interest and of inspiration to your region and organisation to develop a project to promote inclusive, smart and sustainable tourism in your region or city. 

While some programmes (such as the European Regional Development Fund) have tourism clearly stated in their main policy objectives, others have no specific tourism theme, but that doesn’t mean that tourism-oriented projects cannot benefit from the funding.

For instance, in the LIFE Programme (which is the EU’s funding instrument for the environment and climate action), projects that marry climate adaptation measures with tourism may in fact be eligible. 

In general terms, funding for tourism can therefore be provided via different actions and programmes, which are open periodically through calls for proposals published on the websites of the relevant programmes.

In a nutshell,  this guide helps you navigate through many of the programmes for 2021-2027 through the lenses of tourism. It is available in all EU languages so we highly recommend checking it out and getting in touch with us at AER if you have want to develop a project with us or with other regions in our network. 

AER has recently concluded the CUBES Project, aiming at boosting participatory cultural administration skills. In this context, cultural heritage and sustainable tourism were identified as subjects of great interest by many of our members, hence the willingness to continue working on this topical issue.

So don’t hesitate and get in touch with us by writing to projects@aer.eu!