EU DigiTOUR: CALL FOR SELECTION OF TOURISM SMEs

The EU DigiTOUR is a project co-funded by the COSME Programme of the European Union, with the scope to support the digital transformation of the European tourism SMEs lagging behind in the adoption and full exploitation of the digital technologies in the tourism industry.

The project scheme was designed to help shape the next generation EU tourism SMEs to untap the potentials of the digital realm, enhancing cooperation in the tourism ecosystem for the development of new, innovative, and smart tourism solutions, products, services, skills, and new business models by the use of AI, IoT, VR and AR, and big data.

Any tourism SME that complies with all the following requirements is allowed to submit their application for funding under this call. It is important to bear in mind that only one application per tourism SME is accepted. In case that more than one application is submitted by the same company, the most recent application will be considered. The 3 compulsory requirements that have to be met to participate are:

A) To be a Small or Medium Enterprise (SME) as in EU recommendation 2003/361

B) To be a legally established tourism innovative SMEs and its main economic activity is in the Tourism sector as reflected in their NACE codes (I55* and N79):

1. Hotels and similar accommodation (Nace code: I5510)
2. Holiday and other short-stay accommodation (Nace code: I5520)
3. Camping grounds, recreational vehicle parks and trailer parks (Nace code: I5530)
4. Travel agency, tour operator reservation service and related activities (Nace code: N79*)

C) Be registered in:

1. Italy
2. Germany
3. Croatia
4. Slovenia

Applicants are required to complete the application form available through this link: https://x23eupro.grantplatform.com/

The application will consist of a form to provide information about the SME profile, the challenge to tackle, the relevance to digital technology concerned and the impact resulting from its implementation.

Application is also possible through the project website, a link will be re-directing to the GG Plaform.

Only proposals submitted in English will be accepted.

Submissions written in another language will not be evaluated.

Only applications submitted before the deadline will be accepted.

Only proposals submitted via: – the Good Grants on-line platform, complete with all the templates annexed will be accepted. Paper/printed versions submitted by post or other means will not be accepted. Hand-written applications will not be accepted.

The ultimate objective shall be to support the digital transformation of traditional tourism SMEs by the knowledge sharing and the use of disruptive solutions from the innovative tourism SMEs selected, focusing on AI, AR/VR, IoT, big data and cooperating during the Hackathons. The final purpose is to improve the tourism SMEs competitiveness, mastering digital technologies to improve the quality of their services.

With this purpose, the tourism SMEs could use the financial support according to the following activities:

Travel, registration and accommodation costs to attend:

1. courses around digital transformation, AR/VR, AI, IoT, big data;
2. specialised training for employees skills improvement (e.g. advanced training course about specific vertical topics);
3. participation fees to digital-oriented events at EU level;
4. Internationalisation missions for market expansion and networking;
5. Mission costs for specialised mentoring and coaching to reach the mentors and coach premises.

Consultancy services fee:

1. consultancy fee from digital professionals and business mentors;
2. advisory consultancy services in the field of digital transformation (digital strategy, implementation of digital systems using disruptive techs such as AI, IoT, AR/VR, predictive analytics or sentiment analysis);
3. consultancy fee for assessing the digital impact of digital transformation at their premises, in managing operations using key enabling techs ensuring sustainability, etc.).
4. consultancy fees for business strategy development and services around digitalisation.

Certification Costs:

1. compliance adaptation for certification schemes;
2. standardisation of fact or law for implementing digital techs at their premises.
3. innovation procurement costs:
4. digital services, products or processes from tourism SMEs, spin-offs, research bodies

IPR costs

It has to be remarked that the purchase of physical infrastructure and goods are not eligible for the present call.