THE PROJECT |
TourINN-act project aims to enhance and promote the uptake of digitalisation and innovation by tourism SMEs through transnational cooperation and capacity building and through the provision of financial support after the publication of an Open Call for Proposal.
TARGET GROUPS
Tourism SMEs located in Italy, Spain, Greece, Romania and Cyprus
– Accommodation (hotels, motels, B&Bs, camping, guest houses, hostels, etc.)
– Travel intermediaries (travel agents, tour operators, travel reservation services)
RESULTS
– Roadmap on innovative and sustainable tourism practices
– Open Call for providers to select the most qualified suppliers
– Online Catalogue of digital solutions and service providers
– Step-by-Step guide for the implementation of solutions
– TourINN-Platform for matchmaking between providers and SMEs
– TourINN-Match to engage in cross-sectorial experimental projects
– Open Call for Innovation of Tourism SMEs to provide financial support to the most innovative and sustainable projects.
FIRST SEMESTER ACTIVITY |
Consortium Meetings
Making ends meet in a project of such complexity requires considerable communication and coordination between partners. To achieve this,
our team has met periodically since the beginning of the project.
Online meetings throughout kept on Zoom with all Partners!
Kick-off Meeting
An important milestone was the project’s Kick-Off Meeting, with participation of the entire project team, as well as the Project Officer, on behalf of the European Commission. Although held online, because of the spikes in COVID-19 cases, our meeting on January 10th was an incredible opportunity to have a global look at TourINN-Act, express our goals and ambitions!
It was a warm and inspiring event, providing a surprisingly amount of motivation and belief in the mission and vision of this project. The partners briefly presented themselves, as well as the work packages and main categories of activities. Understand the tourism sector and its pain points, identify innovative solutions and develop a methodology for SMEs were just few points addressed during the meeting aimed at supporting 60 visionary Tourism SMEs with up to 10.000€ each.
After the Kick-Off Meeting, we have participated in monthly online meetings, working together on research matters, strategy decisions and perfecting the quality and impact of TourINN-Act’s deliverables, until we finally met in person.
Meeting in Brasov, Romania
15-16 June 2022
Epidemiological conditions finally allowed us to meet in person!
It was an amazing experience to hug and shake hands with people that we’ve been intensively working with for the past 6 months. The efficiency of talks, the increased level of understanding and the general excitement made this Transnational Meeting a roaring success, ensuring a strategic approach to the next steps. Below the topics covered during the two days:
– the Open Call for Providers, kindly set-up by JO CONSULTING (ITALY) will be open from September 1 with the purpose of selecting providers of innovative solutions to be included in our Catalogue;
– the Open Call for Tourism SMEs, the one we are all waiting for, in which at least 60 tourism SMEs will receive innovation vouchers of up to 10,000 euros to implement digital and sustainable solutions;
– the TourINN platform, developed by UP PROJECT (SPAIN), will host training modules on relevant tourism topics;
the TourINN Roadmap, developed by all partners under the strong coordination of KiNNO (GREECE), which, together with the Step-by-step Guide, will guide SMEs in choosing and implementing practices;
– the TourINN Match, aiming at facilitating 1-to-1 meeting between SMEs and providers, will be introduced in the Open Innovation Seminar next December;
– the Communication & Dissemination Strategies, coordinated by EUROSUCCESS CONSULTING (CIPRO), will convey the efforts made for the results to reach the right audience;
– the Project Management and Quality Assurance activities, moderated by ICEBERG+ (Romania), to ensure timely and high quality delivery of results.
More than anything else, our meeting in Brasov was an opportunity to consolidate TourINN-Act team, to foster human contacts, and finally to enjoy the medieval atmosphere of Brasov, an iconic town in the heart of Romania.
Find out below how and what we have achieved so far and
stay tuned for exciting developments in the project!
Report on the needs analysis of tourism SMEs
as a result of peer-to-peer digital networks and desk research
TouriNN-Act partnership conducted an analysis of the tourism SMEs needs in terms of innovative, digital and sustainable solutions through desk research, interviews and peer-to-peer-meetings with SMEs.
According to the findings, tourism is one of the key sectors of Romania, Greece, Spain, Italy and Cyprus, offering a high contribution in the GDP, supporting the national economies and creating job opportunities. COVID-19 pandemic severely affected the sector and caused devastating consequences to the tourism SMEs. The common challenges concern the difficulty to invest and adopt the new technological and digital standards, comply with sustainability priorities, deal with the increased competition of the market and meet the high demands of the clients.
The needs of tourism SMEs in the five countries are related to easy access to funding opportunities, training, education & new technologies together with sustainable models and skills to deal with COVID-19 consequences. In addition, there is a need for new partnerships and collaboration with research and academia along with the need for the development of integrated policies and control of competition through the governments and associated authorities.
TourINN-Act Roadmap
The Roadmap on innovative, digital, and sustainable practices aims at selecting and categorizing the best solutions, defining the process of their exploitation by tourism SMEs, as well as defining the anticipated impact in terms of visibility, accessibility, profitability and sustainability
To start with, the partnership will launch an Open call for solution providers in order to select the best providers from Romania, Greece, Spain, Italy and Cyprus that can offer innovative solutions to tourism SMEs, and include them into an Online Catalogue.
After the selection of providers, the TouriNN-Act Matchmaking Event will be organized to bring in touch the solutions providers with tourism SMEs – potential applicants to the open call for SMEs.
In parallel the Open Call for tourism SMEs will be launched to support the partnership in the selection of 60 tourism SMEs (12 per country) that will be benefited from a 10.000€ voucher each for the application of solutions, by cross-border collaboration with service providers.
The consortium have identified 10 broad categories of solutions:
1) Digital infrastructure to improve and connect operations
2) Digital technologies and innovations
3) Online marketing and promotion
4) Technology for smart governance and e-business
5) Technology for prevention and mitigation of COVID-19
6) Smart and sustainable tourism products, services and activities
7) eCommerce services and solutions, both for B2B and B2C
8) Advisory services, coaching and technical support
9) Training services for employees
10) Technology for regional cooperation for knowledge sharing
PROJECT CURRENT ACTIVITY |
APPLY NOW until October 15!
In order to bridge SMES’ digitalisation gap between the current state and the one defined as innovative and sustainable, TourINN-Act has launched an Open Call for providers of digital and sustainable solutions, made to find and bring together the most suitable and feasible tourism solution and include them in an online Catalogue that will allow beneficiary tourism SMEs to purchase them through vouchers.
By attracting digital services providers, the call will give them the opportunity to reach more visibility and to offer their services and capabilities to the tourism network.
If you are a provider able to offer innovative, digital and sustainable practices for tourism SMEs in services such as IT, digital education, e-training, digital marketing and green tech solutions, this call is for you!
Selected providers will have their solutions listed in the online Catalogue within ToursINN-act platform and will have the chance to have a pitch about their services and solutions with more than 150 SMEs from 5 European countries.
The value of a single voucher is €10.000 and grants are fully funded by the EU’s COSME Program. It is advisable to offer solutions in a cost range up to €15,000 to increase the chance of being selected as a service provider.
Don’t miss this opportunity.
Apply here until the 15th of October: https://tourinnact.eu/
UPCOMING NEWS & ACTIVITIES |
Online Catalogue of digital and solutions
The identified solution providers will be included into an Online Catalogue of Innovative Solutions, in which the Roadmap designed will also be embodied. The Catalogue will be addressed to tourism SMEs to support them into the selection of one or more solutions purchasable through the voucher obtained.
Step-by-Step Guide for the implementation of tourism innovations
A Step-by-Step Guide will be available for consultation by interested SMEs that will opt for the implementation of digital and sustainable solutions. It will contain concrete examples of already implemented best practices and success stories in order to give inspiring idea on possible concrete actions.
TourINN Platform
The platform aims to support beneficiaries in understanding the practices they can implement in their businesses. Through the matchmaking process, it will facilitate bilateral meetings between providers and tourism SMEs by increasing opportunities for cross-sectoral cooperation. E-courses on strategic approaches will help SMEs learn more about issues related to management strategies, business models, professional profiles and marketing. In addition, the virtual storage section, containing the Catalog and Step-by-Step Guide, will assist beneficiary SMEs in the selection and proper implementation of practices.
The Open call for tourism SMEs, which will be launched in March 2023, foresees a voucher provision up to €10.000 to support tourism SME in:
Developing innovative solutions to improve tourism management
Promoting smart and sustainable tourism practices
Increasing skills and competencies in the use of new digital technologies
The call is addressed to Tourism SMEs based in Italy, Spain, Greece, Romania and Cyprus, registered as accommodation facilities (hotels, motels, B&Bs, camping, hostels, etc.) or travel intermediaries (travel agents, tour operators).
Stay tuned and follow us on social media! |
