Deadline: 16-Jun-22
The project Med Pearls is issuing calls for proposals for sub-grants, aimed at the creation of ICT solutions applied to Slow Tourism products. The Call is addressed to Micro, small & medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs, including start-ups & entrepreneurs) specialized in developing ICT solutions.
The Med Pearls project, funded by the European Union under the ENI CBC Med Programme and it comprises 5 Mediterranean countries (Egypt, Greece, Italy, Jordan, and Spain) with goals to create ICT solutions to enhance the Slow Tourism products which are currently being developed in the Med Pearls pilot areas from the 5 project countries.
Objective: the creation of innovative ICT solutions adapted to the Slow Tourism products which are currently being developed in the Med Pearls pilot areas from the 5 project countries.
Pillars
To address these challenges, Med Pearls’ approach proposes an alternative model based on 4 pillars to reposition the area as a quality destination for Slow Tourism (ST):
- Deseasonalization (taking advantage of the exceptional weather conditions)
- Diversification (developing new tourist products & experiences for niches & new segments based on Slow Tourism and valorising the rich existing heritage)
- Innovation (introducing ICT & digitalisation to bolster the most promising tourist product ideas coming from local MSMEs)
- Local economy development (by supporting Slow Tourism, around 66% of the trip costs from packages remain in local destinations (as estimated by the ATTA 2014 Snapshot), thus at local stakeholders, while in mass tourism packages up to 80% of travellers’ expenditures go to airlines, hotels or other international companies, according to UNEP).
What is an ICT solution applied to a Slow Tourism product? The Med Pearls project performed an ICT needs assessment among the Travel Agencies awarded with subgrants and the following areas of ICT solutions have been considered as priorities:
- Gamification: To complement and support the enjoyment of the Slow Tourism products with educational and ludic ICT solutions.
- Virtual Reality – Augmented Reality: To enabling travellers to discover the destinations in a deeper or different way both during the trip but also from their own home when preparing their trips.
- Digital Booklets / Online Tourism Guides / Geolocation Solutions: To make key information of the destinations easier to access by tourists, including geolocation data. To design and plan trips based on travellers’ preferences.
- Promotional Tools: To support local business to have more visibility and make it easier for visitors to purchase the services and products they offer.
Funding Information
To integrate the ICT solutions into the newly developed products, the Med Pearls project is offering a combined support to awarded proposals:
- Sub-grants: Financial assistance to finance the eligible expenditure related to the ICT solutions creation, development and testing process.
- Technical expertise in designing ICT solutions relevant for the Slow Tourism products and pilot areas: an expert in ICT technologies applied to the tourism industry will be assigned by the project to the awarded candidates to mentor them in the conceptualisation, implementation and testing phase of the most relevant solutions for the new offer of tourism experiences / products.
- The overall indicative amount made available under this call for sub-grant proposals is EUR 50.000,00€. The contracting authority responsible for the Call reserves the right not to award all available funds.
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Size of sub-grants
- The maximum grant amount that an applicant can request under this call for proposals is EUR 25.000,00 €
Eligibility Criteria
- In order to be eligible for a grant, the applicant must:
- be a legal entity and
- be a legally constituted MSME working in the field of ICT solutions3 and
- comply with any specific requirements at national level as stated by ENI Programme
- be established in one of the ENI CBC MED programme’s eligible and adjoining territories within one of the Med Pearls project partner countries5 and
- be directly responsible for the preparation and management of the action, not acting as an intermediary and
- not be recipient of State Aid through other grants or financing support from national governments or the European Union in excess of 200.000 euro over a period of three years. In this regard, a De minimis declaration is to be signed and submitted by applicants from an EU Member State, Egypt or Jordan
Deadlines
The following Calls for Proposals are now open or will be open in the coming days:
- Call for proposals for Greece – Deadline 16 June 2022 at 6 pm CEST
- Call for proposals for Italy – Deadline 16 June 2022 at 6 pm CEST
- Call for proposals for Egypt – Deadline 16 June 2022 at 6 pm CEST
- Call for proposals for Catalonia (managed by PICTI) Deadline 19 June 2022 at 6 pm CEST
- Call for proposals for Jordan Deadline 22 June 2022 at 6 pm CEST
For more information, visit Med Pearls.
For more information, visit https://www.enicbcmed.eu/med-pearls-call-proposals-ict-solutions-applied-slow-tourism