Project description: The project "Boosting the tourism sector in Europe through digital tools and innovation – DIGITOUR" (https://digitour-project.eu/) is implemented by the Cluster of Cultural Routes, together with nine partner organizations from Italy, Germany, France, Spain, Bulgaria, Denmark and the Czech Republic, and is funded by the European Commission through the Executive Agency for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (EASME), within the COSME COS-TOURINN-2020-3-04 programme. The project coordinator is Venetian Cluster (Italy).
In order to survive and remain competitive in the coming years, small and medium-sized enterprises need support in adapting to challenges and finding new solutions for efficient and sustainable management. The development of new products and services is key to sustainability, as are marketing and promotion of their offer according to the needs of target customers. Digital tools and technologies can help small and medium-sized enterprises in this endeavor; however, the level of skills and knowledge about such tools is not at an equal level among European small and medium-sized enterprises, not even within tourism ecosystems. Therefore, the DIGITOUR project will support small and medium-sized enterprises in tourism through two types of vouchers, targeting different levels of digital maturity. The voucher for enhancing digital skills and capacity building is intended for enterprises willing to improve their knowledge of digital tools and technologies in order to boost their competitiveness and growth. The goal is to increase their knowledge through training and individual advisory support. The Innovation Cooperation Voucher is intended for groups of small and medium-sized enterprises that want to cooperate on innovative national or transnational digital projects. The goal is to encourage innovative ideas of small and medium-sized enterprises in order to improve sustainable management, product and service offerings, marketing and promotion. Cross-border partnerships in the tourism sector will be particularly encouraged, as well as cross-sectoral cooperation with suppliers of innovative, digital solutions and new technologies. Both vouchers will contribute to achieving the general goal of the project – a sustainable increase in the competitiveness and resilience of tourism small and medium-sized enterprises in Europe, so that they can cope with new challenges. The DIGITOUR project will create an environment conducive to innovation, so that European tourism small and medium-sized enterprises are ready to use innovative digital tools in accordance with their specific needs and to develop new offerings and business models with the support of experts.