The aim of Enit’s green and digital project, “SMARTIES for SMEs: Pills of Sustainable, Smart, Regenerative Tourism to Empower SMEs in the EU Mediterranean Area,” is to boost the competitiveness of small and medium-sized tourism enterprises.
Submitted in the COSME call SMP-COSME-2022-TOURSME, and with a total budget of €3 million, the plan of action is aimed at enhancing the competitiveness of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the field of tourism. This is to be achieved by boosting their capacity for green and digital transition, and by promoting innovation, resilience, sustainability and quality in the tourism value chain in the EU Mediterranean region.
The scheme makes €375,000 available for innovative projects that contribute to the environmental, social and economic sustainability of tourism businesses. Each funded project can receive up to €25,000 and avail itself of mentoring by local partners. It can also be selected as good practice for international distribution. The funds are earmarked for 75 innovative projects in five Mediterranean areas: ‘Toscana Nord-Ovest’ in Italy, and four areas in Greece, Cyprus, Portugal and Slovenia.
The project is an opportunity for SMEs to take advantage of the dual green and digital transition. Using demand analysis, training, capacity building and with significant financial and technical support, the aim is to help businesses develop a tourism plan based on authenticity while contributing to the well-being of local communities.
The concept of regeneration, which implies renovation or restoration, is not a new one, but only in recent years has it entered the mainstream in fields such as agriculture and architecture. In tourism the notion surfaced in 2019, thanks to Anna Pollock who is an expert, and through schemes such as Visit Flanders and the Travel to Tomorrow Summit. The COVID-19 pandemic further highlighted the vulnerabilities of the sector, and the need to rethink tourism.
Regenerative tourism goes beyond simply preserving a destination and inspiring visitors to leave a positive impact. It can also include helping to cleanse the environment, improve the habitat of local wildlife, and regenerate the ecosystem. Unlike traditional tourism, which focuses on exploring new destinations, regenerative tourism is closely associated with the economy, society, culture and nature.
The principles of regenerative tourism include:
- Environmental restoration: Tourism processes take place within an ecosystem, and people, as agents of tourism, must become guardians of the natural world.
- Responsible tourism: The success of tourism is not only measured by GDP growth, but also by well-being, cultural prosperity, landscape integrity and a sense of community.
- Local community involvement: The host community is the main agent of regenerative tourism, acting as a steward of local ecosystems.
- Cultural preservation.
The aim of regenerative tourism is to ensure that visitors have a positive impact on destinations, leaving them in better conditions than those in which they found them, while actively contributing to their revival and regeneration. Concrete examples include farmers and travel industry experts who restore degraded land and local communities, the development of ecolodges to help conserve pristine rainforests, and the recovery of biodiversity by restricting cattle grazing and reintroducing wild animals.
