SUSRUR - SUStainability and resilient scenarios for tourism

CLOSED ON 2nd AUGUST, 2023, 17:00 CEST

OC1: Accelerator – RESULTS

Total of submitted applications: 36
Total of eligible applications: 28
Total of accepted for funding applications : 26
Total sub-grant amount for third parties within Open Call #1: 156.000.00 €
The list of third parties supported by SUSRUR OC #1 - ACCELERATOR is available HERE.

UPDATED ON 26 JUNE, 2023

Opening date
4 of May 2023 12:00 (Brussels time)

Deadline model
single-stage

Call deadline
2 of August 2023 17:00 (Brussels time)

Expected duration of participation
5 months

Total funding available
360 000,00

Project acronym
SUSRUR

Full name of the EU funded project
Towards SUStainability and resilient scenarios for tourism SMEs in RUral & Remote Areas

Grant agreement number
101085887

Topic
SMP-COSME-2021-TOURSME-01 - COVID-19 Recovery Through Sustainable Tourism Growth and SME Support

Submission & evaluation process

Submission:

Apply online via F6S Application Form: https://www.f6s.com/susrur-open-call1/apply.

Pitch video (optional) might be submitted during this stage. The video will support the evaluation process, having in mind the overall criteria. The video is an additional evaluation point to be assessed by internal and independent evaluators.

IMPORTANT: Documents to be submitted during the sub-grant agreement stage if your application is selected:

Declaration of Honour
Financial statements
SME Status Checklist

The open call documentation kit, as well as all other documents referred above, are available in the following link https://susrur.eu/calls-for-proposals/open-call-1-accelerate.

All personal data privacy statements are covered in the F6S form and mentioned in the call for proposals document as well (Privacy contact section - last paragraph).

For any further questions regarding the application process can be addressed through: contact@susrur.eu

Evaluation process:

Applications will be collected, analysed, and assessed by a pool of Experts in Tourism in rural areas & by the five partners from SUSRUR project, as experts in their region. Applications will be sorted and selected following three main steps:

Admissibility and Eligibility check
Proposal evaluation
Ranking and final selection

Applicants must demonstrate:

The proposal’s alignment with the SUSRUR project in general, and more specifically with SUSRUR Open Call, to identify and address the relevant value of their proposal in their region;
Provide information about the level of innovation within their market, degree of differentiation that this project will bring and to what extent the solution will go beyond the state-of-the-art;
The applicants should demonstrate how they plan the proposed solution’s development and what is their ambition to implement it with SUSRUR support;
Credible evidence that the project team is appropriate to implement the project presented to SUSRUR Open Call. Technical capacity, experience, excellence, and quality of the team, as well as if there is diversity/equality and social concerns that are reflected in the team composition;
Demonstrate ambition to improve the tourism sector in its area, indicating expected economic, technological, and societal impact in their region;
The feasibility of the business case under the use case scenario. Company business, market and growth strategy;
Present the extent to which the work plan is complete and coherent to ensure an effective implementation aligned with the SUSRUR plan of support.

A team of experts of SUSRUR project will be defined to evaluate the applications: each application will be evaluated by two (2) experts who will evaluate remotely the proposals and assign individual and final scoring.

At the end of the evaluation process all applications will be ranked in 5 countries/regions, mentioned above. The criteria for the ranking are described in the Section 7.1 of the Guide of Applicants.

Applicants will be informed about the decision made by the Evaluation Board by the end of July 2023 via email. The final decision will also be published on this page and SUSRUR website.

Am I an eligible applicant? Reply [Y/N]:

a) SMEs* legally established [Y/N]
b) SMEs working in the tourism sector under one of the following NACE classes**: [Y/N]
▪ H49 - Land transport and transport via pipelines
▪ I55 - Accommodation
▪ I56 - Food and beverage service activities
▪ N79 - Travel agency, tour operator reservation service and related activities
▪ R90 - Creative, arts and entertainment activities
▪ R91 - Libraries, archives, museums and other cultural activities
▪ R93 - Sports activities and amusement and recreation activities
c) SMEs working on regions, (1) Asturias (Spain); (2) Western Macedonia (Greece); (3) Harghita (Romania); (4) Utena (Lithuania); (5) Steirisches Vulkanland (Austria) [Y/N]
d) Complete and correct fulfilment of the Application form on F6S platform [Y/N]
e) All documents and video submitted in English [Y/N]
f) Only one application submitted (described in section 5.3. from the Guide of Applicants) [Y/N]
g) The proposal was submitted within the call timeline electronically via F6S platform (4th of May, 12h CEST to 4th July, 17h00 CEST) [Y/N]
h) The overall and all the points in accordance with the described in point 5. of the Guide of Applicants, regarding eligibility [Y/N]

You are an eligible applicant if all answers to the previous criteria are Yes.

Further information:

SUSRUR project (GA nº101085887) was launched in January 2023 to address the inherent challenges for Tourism SMEs from 5 rural & remote areas of Europe by promoting an open call that can help awarded applicants to develop their sustainability and innovative practices & strategies while providing tools and skills to strengthen their competitiveness in a post-COVID-19 scenario.

SUSRUR - Towards SUStainability and resilient scenarios for tourism SMEs in RUral & Remote Areas is a European project funded by the European Union under the Competitiveness of Enterprises and SMEs pillar of the Single Market Programme (SMP COSME), through the call COVID-19 Recovery Through Sustainable Tourism Growth and SME Support, topic SMP-COSME-2021-TOURSME-01. As such, it is part of the EC’s overall COVID-19 recovery strategy for a sustainable tourism ecosystem and remains in line with the priorities of SME strategy and industrial strategy recovery.

SUSRUR aims to support SMEs from 5 rural & remote areas of Europe by promoting sustainability and innovative practices & strategies while providing tools and skills to strengthen their competitiveness in a post-COVID-19 scenario, increasing their awareness and capacity to accelerate and implement the twin green & digital transitions. Environmental, economic and social aspects will be taken into account by developing suitable pathways and scenarios for sustainable recovery.

SUSRUR main aim is to provide a networking and support platform to tourism SMEs in rural & remote/mountain areas to enhance the awarded applicants sustainability practices, productivity, competitiveness and innovation capacity, promoting innovative technologies, services and business models and boosting their capacity & skills to embrace the twin digital-green transition.

What do we offer?

The advantages of participating in SUSRUR the first Open Call (hereinafter OC#1) can be resumed, as follows:

Integrate an acceleration program (ACCELERATOR Program) for 5 months to build and reinforce business capacities
Credibility and recognition by experts from an EU project
Up to 6,000 € lump sum funding per SME
Develop new skills and implement innovative solutions
Access to a wider network of experts and peers
Networking opportunities, namely in the planned travel

Financial Support

All the activities part of the SUSRUR Accelerator program are delivered by external experts and mentors with no contractual link to any of the SUSRUR partners. The programme is based on the SDG Innovation Lab concept designed by Koestinger, but Koestinger is not involved directly in providing any service during the execution of the Accelerator programme since this is done by a list of external experts, including mentors. Koestinger only takes care of the supervision of the program to ensure that it is delivered to the highest quality standards, and this is covered by staff costs. Each SME entering the programme will receive a 5.000€ lump-sum financial support to cover the costs of the programme. From this, 3.200€ are needed to cover the “Accelerator costs” including all Accelerator activities (Live Labs, Diagnostic sessions, Touchpoints, Mentoring sessions, Peer-to-peer sessions, etc.); 500€ are needed to cover the costs of local mentors while the rest will be used to cover travel, accommodation and subsistence costs for a Face-to-Face event for all 60 SMEs to be held in West Macedonia (Greece) and the final Demo Day event for 20 selected SMEs (4 per region) to be held in Vienna (Austria).

Payments will be made after positive assessment of the reports that will come out as a result of each checkpoint (as described in the next point). There will be a financing transfer associated to the 3 Phases and the completion of its Labs and a final payment, as detailed in the ACCELERATOR Program in the Guide of applicants (document 2) in point 4. The financing is directly linked with results and checkpoints achievements, to be confirmed by the OC#1 participant and its mentor/trainer.

Payment scheme, based on the program defined for the 5 months of Accelerator, will be performed based on the successful accomplishment of the program and will have as KPI the following:

43% of the Accelerator program completed (finishing the first 3 Labs)
71,5% of the Accelerator program completed (finishing Lab 5)
100% of the Accelerator program completed (finishing Lab 7)

This Sub-Grant must guarantee that the FSTP will pay directly and exclusively for the training or a training entity.

ACCELERATOR Program phases & checkpoints:

PHASE 1
Discover: Applicants will discover sustainable impact in tourism through new business models, social enterprises, and cooperative ventures.
Ideate: During this phase, teams will be challenged to develop a sustainable business idea that adds value for their existing customers or a new target segment and create an innovative solution to bring that idea to life.
Define: During this phase, participants will use the Lean Canvas framework to turn their innovative solution from the ideation phase into a functioning business model.

Checkpoint 1 - Deliverables of end of phase one:
A developed “Lean-Canvas” provided as pdf after consulting with the mentors

PHASE 2
Validate: This is a crucial step to reduce risk to the business, as testing on the market can help entrepreneurs identify any potential issues and make necessary changes before fully launching their product or service.
Develop: At this lab, entrepreneurs will learn how to create a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) and prototype their sustainable tourism business idea.

Checkpoint 2 - Deliverables of end of phase two:
A developed MVP/prototype/wireframe etc provided as pdf after the consulting with the mentors

PHASE 3
Integrate: In this phase, entrepreneurs will learn how to integrate their innovative sustainable business model into their existing operations. Participants will focus on developing a comprehensive sustainable marketing strategy that resonates with their target audience, without resorting to greenwashing.
Shine: The final Live Lab is all about polishing and presenting the project idea to potential investors. Participants will learn how to craft a compelling three-minute pitch and create a structured pitch deck tailored to the needs of investors.

Checkpoint 3 - Deliverables of end of phase three:
A developed Investor pitch deck and provided as pdf after consulting with the mentors and ability to present a 3 min pitch.

*SMEs definition: https://single-market-economy.ec.europa.eu/smes/sme-definition_en
**https://ec.europa.eu/competition/mergers/cases/index/nace_all.html