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TOURISME aims to foster SME’s capacities and skills to explore and uptake solutions through a reinforced transnational and cross-sectoral collaboration between tourism SMEs and operators from different sectors in Spain, Italy, France and Cyprus. In this sense, to achieve sustainability and improve competitiveness, the project will address companies covering different sectors of the tourism industry, including coastal tourism, natural and cultural tourism, and tourism linke to public events (sports, festivals, etc.).
In the first stage of the project, a knowledge base will be created in order to map, analyse and draft a compendium of best practices and certifications to then, design a transnational and cross-sectoral support schemes that will be implemented later on. At the final stage, a monitoring system of SME’s sustainability improvements will be set up and finally, the sustainability results will be evaluated.
Specifically, the objectives to be achieved by the SMEs participating in the project are:
1) Scaling-up their activities and build capacity within their companies through knowledge transfer, exchanges and collaboration with other SMEs, business accelerators, incubators, development agencies and other tourism industry stakeholders across sectors and nations.
2) Taking up innovative solutions that boost sustainable practices and circular business models, addressing the growing consumer demand for a more eco-friendly tourism experience and understanding the financial implications and cost saving opportunities.
3) Accessing certification schemes and other EC initiatives that promote sustainable tourism and that leads to competitive advantages, such as EMAS, EDEN and EU Ecolabel.
Under the title “Improving sustainability of tourism SMEs through knowledge transfer, international cooperation and multi-stakeholder engagement”, TOURISME fundamentally strives to promote the adaptation of European tourism SMEs towards more sustainable, lowcarbon and resource-efficient business models.
Tourism is one of the major economic activities in the European Union with a high impact on economic growth, employment and social development. The competitiveness of the European tourism industry is closely linked to its sustainability, which is understood as environmental, economic and socio-cultural aspects of tourism development. Achieving sustainable tourism development brings numerous benefits derived from the competitive advantage provided by cost savings and the improvement of the quality of the offer.
Consulta Europa is the main beneficiary of the project, which has a consortium made up of 8 organizations, among which is the Instituto Tecnológico de Canarias, a public R&D center attached to the regional Ministry of Universities, Science & Innovation and Culture of the Canary Islands Government.
The project is 75% co-financed by the European Commission through the COSME Program.
Best practices of sustainable tourism in hotels and tourist accomodations available. See interactive infographic.
TOURISME is aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), the following being of special interest:
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