The European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency has opened the call dedicated to sustainable competitiveness in tourism, with a budget of 6.9 million euros for approximately five projects. The deadline was May 20, 2026.
The call is part of the Single Market Programme, the COSME component, which funds horizontal actions for SME competitiveness. The budget of 6.9 million euros was to be divided between approximately five projects, which means average grants of over one million euros each.
The mandatory structure of the applicant is what disqualifies most tourism companies. A hotel, a guesthouse, or an agency cannot apply. A consortium of at least five entities is required, consisting of destination management organizations and business support organizations, coming from at least two eligible states.
Tourism SMEs are indirect beneficiaries. Through the funded projects, they receive consulting services, training, digitalization, or support for the green transition, without managing the grant themselves. This is a cascading model, frequently used in directly managed European programs.
For a Romanian tourism company, the practical conclusion is twofold. On the one hand, it makes no sense to invest in preparing an individual application file. On the other hand, it is worth identifying the destination management organizations and chambers of commerce active in its area and positioning itself as a beneficiary in their projects.
The call opened on March 3, 2026, and closed on May 20, 2026, at 17:00 CEST. Similar programs are repeated annually, so monitoring the EISMEA portal remains useful for the 2027 edition.
The cascading funding model used in this call is increasingly common in directly managed European programs. An umbrella organization receives the grant and then redistributes it to SMEs in the form of vouchers, services, or sub-grants of several tens of thousands of euros. For the small company, the advantage is that the access procedure is drastically simplified, sometimes to a one-page form.
Practically, a guesthouse or a travel agency in Romania should follow not the European Commission portal, but the announcements of destination management organizations, county chambers of commerce, and professional associations. That is where sub-grant calls appear, with short deadlines and local competition, much more accessible than direct European competition.
What you need to know
- Budget: 6.9 million EUR for about 5 projects
- Structure: consortium of at least 5 entities from at least 2 eligible states
- Tourism SMEs are indirect beneficiaries, not applicants
- Period: March 3 - May 20, 2026. Call closed
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