what is the purpose of the call?

This Call for proposal aims to select innovative digitalisation projects proposed by tourism SMEs and provide them with direct financial support in the framework of the Tourbit Digital Acceleration Programme. 

what do we offer?

If selected, you will receive a grant of EUR 8,000-9,000 to implement your digitalisation project in your company. The grant must be used to fund the support of service providers, such as mentors, consultants, and/or technology/ innovation providers.

Participation in the programme is completely free.

who can participate?

Applicants need to fulfill the following criteria:

1. Qualify as a Small or Medium Enterprise (SME), meaning having less than 250 staff and no more than 50 m in turnover or 43 m balance sheets total.

2. Belong to one of these categories of the tourism industry:

• Hotels and similar accommodation (NACE I5510)
• Holiday and other short-stay accommodation (NACE I5520)
• Camping grounds, recreational vehicle parks and trailer parks (NACE I5530)
• Travel agency, tour operator reservation service and related activities (NACE N79)

3. Be registered as company in one of the territories of the Tourbit partnership:

• Belgium
• Finland (Lapland)
• France 
• Iceland
• Portugal
• Slovenia
• Spain (Catalonia)

What kind of projects do we expect?

Your project needs to relate to one or several of these subjects:

• Digitalisation, automatisation or improvement of internal processes (digital workspace solutions, Data analytics, and data management, improvement of cybersecurity etc.)

• Digitalisation, automatisation or improvement of client relations and online presence (digital marketing, sales solutions and communication, CRM, Website (including accessibility improvements), SEO, etc.)

• Improvement of products or services using digital technologies (e.g. Artificial Intelligence, Internet of Things, Augmented and Virtual Reality, Cloud Computing, Blockchain)

… and involve one or several of these activities:

• Planning/ development/ establishment and implementation of (sustainable) digitalisation strategies and action plans
• The improvement of digital capacities of staff
• Investment in and implementation of digital tools and solutions

HOW TO APPLY?

All applicants are required to read the Guidelines for Applicants and submit their project proposal through the online application system using the official application form template before the new deadline: 19 April 2023 (17h00 CET).

Before the presentation of your project proposal under the CfP, it is mandatory:

– To assess your company’s state of digitalisation with the Tourbit Digital Readiness Index (DRI). This prerequisite serves you to better understand your digitalisation strengths and weaknesses and know which steps you should take for improvement or in which area of digitalisation you could work on with your project.

– To register for free under the TourBIZZ community and create your profile.

And if I have a question?

First, we recommend you to have look at the recording and presentation of our Informative session on 21 February 2023.

Be aware furthermore that we have set up a FAQ section on this website with the most important questions, and we are updating it regularly with questions that are coming in from the applicants.

Finally, please don’t hesitate to reach out to your local contact point (contact info is indicated in the slides of the info session presentation – from p. 27 to p.34).