Initiatives for Sustainable innovative Practices , Resilience , and Empowerment in Tourism SMEs

ongoing

Europe is in a state of polycrisis. Climate change and with it an increase in extreme weather events, the ongoing war in Ukraine, high inflation, supply bottlenecks, as well as increased energy and consumer prices have highlighted the importance of resilience in the face of unexpected shocks. They showcased how adaptivity to change can play a pivotal role in addressing urgent challenges across sectors. INSPIRES views the setbacks in tourism as a chance to redefine it with a focus on resilience. Specific objectives: SO1: Collect and share EU-wide best practices on resilience, digitalization, and sustainability to inspire tourism SMEs and stakeholders. (WP2) SO2: Conduct training for key stakeholders to become multipliers in disseminating knowledge on resilience, sustainability, and digitalization to SMEs.(WP3) SO3: Provide tailored capacity building for tourism SMEs on resilience, sustainability, and digitalization, including tools, management strategies, certification, and funding to improve their environmental performance and overall resilience. (WP4) SO4: Provide financial support to SMEs to develop and implement new business strategies, new products and cross sectoral approaches to increase the resilience, sustainability and digitalisation of their daily activities. (WP5 A strong focus will be on the topics 8, 16, 20, 25 and 26 of the EU Transition Pathway for Tourism. The project presents an innovative approach to address a crucial EU priority: fostering collaboration among SMEs to develop scalable and transferable TWIN TRANSITION solutions, thereby stimulating robust economic growth in regional tourism ecosystems throughout Europe. The consortium comprises 7 partners spanning 6 EU countries, each contributing unique expertise: 2 DMOs, 3 BSOs, 1 university, 1 affiliated city, and 1 EU Network. Together, they forge a robust alliance dedicated to bolstering resilience among tourism SMEs in the post-COVID-19 economy, empowering them to navigate crises and thrive.