Tourban - Accelerating SME capacity and innovation for sustainable urban tourism
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 16th of 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 is dedicated to SMEs in the form of direct financial support.
Project acitivites:
- Transnational and cross-sectorial cooperation and network:
- Online community: https://community.tourban.eu
- International events (online and offline) – Final Conference Dubrovnik (2023)
- Create and spread knowledge and skills among tourism SMEs:
- Research and analysis about urban tourism sustainability challenges + best practices
- Trainings and webinars ‘– international/English
- Online meet-ups in Tourban community
- Design Thinking Lab Barcelona (2022) - international/English
- Deliver technical and financial support services:
- Acceleration Programme (incl. up to 10.000 € grant/ SME)
- Webinar on the application process and requirements
- Investor Pitch Copenhagen (2022) - international/English
Tourban brings together eight partners from seven European cities:
Barcelona Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Services and Navigation (BCC) – Barcelona, SPAIN
B.LINK Barcelona Strategic Projects S.L. (B.Link) – Barcelona, SPAIN
Institute for Tourism Research in Northern Europe (NIT) – Kiel, GERMANY
Breda University of Applied Sciences (BUAS) – Breda, NETHERLANDS
City of Dubrovnik Development Agency (DURA) – Dubrovnik, CROATIA
Creative Business Network (CBN) – Copenhagen, DENMARK
Hungarian Hospitality Employers' Association (VIMOSZ) – Budapest, HUNGARY
Estonian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KODA) – Tallinn, ESTONIA
Funding Programme: Competitiveness of Enterprises and Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (COSME)
Call: COS-TOURCOOP-2019-3-01: Boosting sustainable tourism development and capacity of tourism SMEs through transnational cooperation and knowledge transfer