The thirteenth (13th) amendment of the Call for Applications for Funding Applications for Business Plans under the Action: support to tourism SMEs for their modernization and the qualitative upgrading of the services provided by EPANEK has been published. According to the amendment, the final verification request for all beneficiaries of the Action can be submitted within 60 calendar days from the end date of the implementation of their investment plans. See more information about the action here .

The program aims to strengthen the investment plans of existing very small, small and medium tourism businesses of all sectors for:

• the modernisation of their infrastructure and operation
• their quality upgrade and enrichment
• the upgrading and certification of the offered products and services

The aim is to improve their position in the domestic and international tourism market.

Budget of the Action: support to tourism SMEs

The Action's budget amounts to 110,000,000 euros. It is co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) of the European Union and by national resources.

Eligibility

Existing & new micro, small and medium-sized enterprises active in tourism.

1. Existing businesses that keep B' and C' category books, which until 31.12.2015 have closed two or more management years
2. New businesses that do not fall into the above category of existing ones and have been established until 31.12.2015.

They are subsidized for investment projects of 15,000 euros up to 150,000 EUR provided not exceed the total turnover of the company's tourism activities in 2015 or the amount of one hundred and fifty thousand euros (150,000 euros), if the turnover is greater than 150,000 EUR and cannot be less than fifteen thousand euros (15,000 euros). It is clarified that in case the business has a mixed activity, then only the turnover of tourist activities will be taken into account.

The funding covers 40% of the eligible costs and is increased by 10%, reaching 50% in the case of recruitment of new staff.

Subsidy categories

• Buildings, facilities and surroundings
• Machinery – Equipment
• Equipment and Installations for environmental protection & energy & water saving
• Development & Certification of quality assurance & environmental management systems
• Wage costs of employees (existing and/or new staff)
• Software and Software Services
• Means
• Monitoring of the implementation of the Investment Plan
• Studies/market research
• Promotion