DigiTour: Tourism and Digitalization

The DIGITOUR project aims to support the tourism sector, by enhancing SMEs’ knowledge of digital tools and by boosting innovative ideas for digital solutions by SMEs to improve their offer and foster cross-sectoral and cross-border partnerships among tourism sector SMEs, relevant stakeholders and technology.

By applying to this call tourism SMEs with low digital maturity level have the opportunity to receive funds to implement innovation and digitisation projects. In fact, it is an opportunity for tourism SMEs to improve their digital skills and the digitalisation’s maturity level through training and individual advisory services.

Aim of Voucher 1: improving the digital skills and the digitalisation’s maturity level of touristic SMEs through training and individual advisory services.

Expected impacts: awarded SMEs will benefit from training and advisory support, enhancing their innovation and market potential, improving their touristic offer and ensuring a more competitive, sustainable and digitalised business in the mid- and long-run.

Potential beneficiaries: single SMEs can apply. In particular, less mature tourism SMEs can submit their proposals to build up their innovation capacities as well as to upskill existing basics. Applicants must be established in an EU country or a a country participating in the COSME Programme.

Eligible activities: training and advisory support. The DIGITOUR consortium (funding entities) will assist at least 100 SMEs in the best training and advisory support -based on their needs-, on a national basis and according to the nationality of the participating SMEs. Training and individual advisory services can concern one or more of these activities: strategies of efficient digital communication; co-creation of online contents with the direct support of the digital advisor or trainer; support to use technical platforms, social media and CRM software; consulting services to implement and manage e-commerce solutions; high-quality training on ICT and web-marketing. This is an indicative list. Single awarded SMEs will pay for specific training and advisory services offered by technology providers listed on the DIGITOUR platform (https://digitour-project.eu/).

DIGITOUR contribution to SMEs and reporting: Voucher 1 corresponds to a maximum of 1,000.00 euros per single SME. The estimated budget of each proposal can exceed this amount. However, the Voucher 1 grant will be up to 1,000.00 euros per SME and will not exceed this total.

Companies shall meet the following criteria to be eligible:

• Having an economic activity related to the tourism sector:
  • I5510: Hotels and similar accommodation
  • I5520: Holiday and other short-stay accommodation
  • I5530: Camping grounds, recreational vehicle parks and trailer parks
  • N79: Travel agency, tour operator and other reservation service and related activities
• Being established for at least two financial years to be proved through the Company Registration Report;
• Being a small- or medium-sized enterprise (SME), according to the EU recommendation 2003/361;
• Being established in an EU Member State or third country participating in the COSME programme.