CARDET is excited to announce the official launch of its new fuTourisme project, an extraordinary initiative driven by CARDET and seven European partners from Italy, Greece, Germany, France and Spain, to present an antidote to the challenges faced by experiential tourism SMEs through twin, digital and sustainable, transition.
Earlier this month, the project officially kicked off following the first partner meeting in Salerno, dedicated to devising a systematic approach to approaching the shortcomings and challenges experienced by SMEs in the post-Covid era. This intervention comes at the backdrop of the recent study conducted by the European Commission that constitutes that despite contributing to about 10% of EU’s GDP, tourism SMEs are still generally characterised by a low degree of digitalisation, suffering from the lack of skills, finance, infrastructure, as well as mentoring and policy support.
Realising the endless opportunities and potential that the digital and green transition can offer to this highly competitive sector, CARDET and the partners have agreed on a number of important steps to ensure the most holistic and proactive approach to this subject matter. By taking into consideration the Transition Pathway for Tourism and the SME Strategy devised by EC, the consortium will now proceed to compile a compendium of lessons learnt & best practices on environmental, economic and social sustainability, including SMEs digital and sustainable needs, e-Platform development, training & coaching implementation, as well as self-assessment tools and sustainability certification pathway.
To that end, the consortium is also gearing up to launch an Open Call for financial support to tourism SMEs to proactively support business owners through the implementation of sustainable and digital practices. This will help tourism SMEs to tailor the twin transition to their individual business models and address the specific shortcomings experienced with additional funding. The call will be announced in May 2024 alongside clear guidelines on application.
Without a doubt, these important institutional, educational, and financial aspects combined will assert the way for more resilient experiential tourism and boost the sustainable growth and success of individual small businesses. Help us spread the word on this important initiative and visit fuTourisme website for more information and updates on this exciting new project.
