The project aims to:

• Enhance sustainable growth of SMEs in rural tourism and ecotourism sectors across Greece, Cyprus, Bulgaria, Slovenia, Romania, and Italy
• Provide technical and financial support to SMEs to boost their awareness, development, and capacity in sustainable innovations
• Support 90 rural tourism and ecotourism SMEs in developing skills and capacities in sustainable tourism, tailored to local needs and priorities
• Offer capacity building and technical assistance using European sustainability frameworks and tools
• Foster innovative practices that enhance destinations’ resilience to shocks and promote social, economic, and environmental awareness and responsibility
• Establish effective mechanisms for exchanging best practices, and disseminating transferable tools and knowledge among SMEs at a European level

The project will generate the following outcomes:

• Adoption of sustainable and innovative practices by receiving both technical and financial support
• Development and implementation of sustainability/ digital strategies and identification of funding assistance in order to implement these strategies
• Familiarization with the use of specific technologies (related to smart tourism, standardization etc.); performance of PEF/OEF studies and application for environmental sustainability certification
• Enhancement of tourism SMEs’ staff skills and capacity on sustainable growth and digital transformation
• Knowledge transfer and peer to peer learning regarding technology and innovative practices, sustainable/ digital/ smart solutions and modern tourism megatrends