About the Project

What is the Tourban project about?

Tourban is an EU-funded project that supports urban tourism SMEs in becoming more competitive and more sustainable – not only from an environmental but also from an economic and social point of view.

It provides them with the skills, capacity, and financial resources they need to become catalysts for innovation and sustainability. This way, they will be able to reduce costs and resource consumption, and to increase their revenue streams through an improved visibility and positioning.

The project started on 16 September 2020 and has a duration of 30 months. Its total budget amounts to € 1,327,777 co-financed at a 75%-rate by the COSME programme. € 600,000 out of the project budget are dedicated to SMEs in the form of direct financial support.

Tourban brings together eight partners from seven European cities: Amsterdam, Barcelona, Budapest, Copenhagen, Dubrovnik, Kiel, and Tallinn.

Why sustainable urban tourism?

We aim to address the multiple effects and impacts arising from urban tourism such as the need to increase health precautions, greater pressure on limited urban resources such as water, energy and space, waste management, gentrification and coexistence between residents and visitors, as well as the precarious working conditions in the hospitality and catering industry.

What do we want to achieve?

  • Share and exchange knowledge on the main challenges and good practices of tourism, sustainability and circular economy in the seven pilot cities.
  • Offer tourism SMEs the opportunity to participate in international networking events and initiate intersectoral and transnational collaborations through workshops and relevant training material.
  • Provide financial and business support to a minimum of 60 tourism SMEs through a 12-month acceleration programme (maximum EUR 10,000 per SME).
  • Support tourism SMEs in adopting best practices, including obtaining internationally recognised sustainability certificates and labels and the most advanced technologies.
  • Leverage the capabilities and skills of tourism SMEs and other actors to develop innovative solutions that make them more sustainable and competitive.
  • Spearhead a transnational and intersectoral movement towards tourism sustainability in urban areas across Europe through an online Sustainable Urban Tourism Community open to all players and stakeholders in the sector.
 

Who do we address?

  • Tourism entrepreneurs and SMEs – accommodation services, travel agencies, tour operators and similar
  • Technological solution providers and sustainability experts
  • Investors and financiers
  • Local stakeholders – business support organisations, public authorities and local communities