The Action concerns aid of tourism entrepreneurship through the formation or new micro and small and medium-sized enterprises of eligible tourism activity codes (ACNs); thereby promoting the formation of new enterprises which, in addition to contributing towards increasing the growth of the Greek tourism industry, will offer quality and reliable services and will contribute to the enhancement of the tourism product and the increase of employment.
Online Submission Start Date: Monday, 18/12/2023 at 15:00
Online submission end date: Wednesday 27/03/2024 at 15:00
Minimum/maximum subsidised budget for investment plans: €80,000 to €400,000.
Action Budget: €160,000,000
The Action is co-funded by the EU European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and with the participation of the Hellenic Republic.
- €35,200,000 for transition regions: Attica and South Aegean
- €124,800,000 for less developed regions: North Aegean, Eastern Macedonia – Thrace, Central Macedonia, Epirus, Thessaly, Western Greece, Crete, Western Macedonia, Ionian Islands, Central Greece, Peloponnese.
Subsidy rate
The percentage of the funding is equal for all applications for funding and amounts to 45% of the funded budget.
The subsidy rate may increase by:
- 10% if the investment is made in a remote area or small islands (according to Annex X) or regions destroyed by fire, earthquake or floods, with a declaration – when submitting the funding application to iSAMIS [Integrated State Aid Management Information System] of the decision in force (Official Government Gazette) – which classifies the investment implementation area into one of these categories and/or
- an additional 5% with the declaration when submitting the funding application of the targeted employment of at least 0.2 EME in the first year following the completion of the investment
Beneficiaries
Micro, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises that are in the process of being established or are newly-established will be or are active in the Tourism industry.
Category A. In the process of being established. Enterprises that will be established after the issue date of the Action’s call until the first disbursement of the subsidy and will be exclusively active in eligible ACNs throughout the implementation of the investment plan and until the investment is repaid, in accordance with ANNEX II ELIGIBLE ACTIVITIES (ACN).
Category B. Newly Established. The term ‘newly established’ signifies enterprises that have not exceeded a 12-month period of continuous operation (the date of registration with the IAPR must be within the previous 12-month period from the date of announcement of the Action). It should be noted that they should be exclusively active in the eligible ACNs of the Action, which are included in Annex II ELIGIBLE ACTIVITIES (ACN), during the submission of the funding application, throughout the implementation of the investment plan and until the repayment of the investment.
It is clarified that the enterprises must have the investment ACN prior to the first disbursement.
Beneficiaries should, inter alia, meet the following eligibility criteria:
- The proposed investment plan should correspond to at least one of the eligible ACNs in ANNEX ΙΙ: ELIGIBLES AREAS OF ACTIVITY (ACN), which the enterprise should have before the first disbursement of the subsidy.
- Submit a single funding application per TRN [tax registration number] in the current Action.
- Accumulate an investment plan self-assessment score of at least 70 based on the criteria of Annex III.
Please note that the submission of the funding application to iSAMIS will not be permitted if the above condition is not met.
- Exclusively declare the place/places for the implementation of the activities of this Action in one region of the country and in areas where the same aid intensity applies. The region in which the investment plan will be implemented is declared in the funding application. It is clarified that the enterprise can implement costs in the seat of the enterprise and/or its branches, provided that all the implementation points belong to the same region and the areas/places of implementation have the same aid intensity. Plans to be implemented in the Regional Unit of Mykonos and the Regional Unit of Thira, the Municipality of Thira, with the exception of the Municipal Community of Thirassia, as detailed in section 2.2 ACTION IMPLEMENTATION AREAS, are excluded.
- Provide evidence that ensures private participation in the order of at least 60% of the proposed investment
Where enterprises are active in one of the sectors excluded from the scope of Reg. EU 2831/2023 and are also active in other sectors or have other activities of the same Regulation, then Regulation EU 2831/2023 applies to aids granted to the latter sectors or activities, provided that the enterprise concerned ensures, by relying on appropriate means, such as separation of activities or separation of accounts, that the activities in the excluded sectors do not benefit from the de minimis aid
The beneficiaries’ conditions for participation are presented in detail in the Action’s Call.
It is noted that investment plans with the tourism sector investment ACN “Accommodation” (ACN 55) should comply with the following requirements:
MAIN HOTEL ACCOMMODATIONS
Hotels
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- Ranked 4**** (four star) and above
- Capacity of twelve (12) beds or more
Hotel tourist accommodation within traditional buildings provided for in the Presidential Decree 33/1979
Organised camping
NON-MAIN HOTEL ACCOMMODATIONS
Self-service accommodation – furnished tourist accommodations
-
- Minimum number of residences: Three (3)
Please note: The total self-service accommodations – furnished tourist accommodations must belong to the same Electronic Register of Tourism Enterprises Mark.
Furnished rooms – apartments for rent
-
- Ranking of 4 or more keys
- Minimum capacity of twelve (12) beds
Eligible Expenses
In order to form the budget of the investment plans to be funded in this Action, the basic cost categories include:
- Buildings, facilities and surrounding areas.
- Machinery – Equipment
- Digital equipment – software and software services
Additionally, costs are subsidised for:
- a) Certification of Quality Assurance Systems, Environmental Management, in accordance with nationally harmonised and other European and international standards
b) extroversion and internationalisation,
c) means of transport,
d) studies and consulting services
e) indirect costs.
The deadline for the completion of the funded investments is twenty-four (24) months from the date of issue of the evaluation results’ decision of approval.
Application submission procedure
The funding application must be submitted online via the Integrated State Aid Management Information System. Applications for funding submitted to the iSAMIS with unfilled mandatory fields will not be accepted.
The applications for funding will be evaluated through benchmarking.
Contact – Information
Public Information Office: 8 Dragatsaniou Street, Klafthmonos Square, Athens.
Operating hours Monday to Friday from 10:00 to 14:00
By phone: on 801 11 36 300 from landlines with a local charge from 09:00 to 16:30
Εmail: infoepan@mou.gr
Websites: www.antagonistikotita.gr www.espa.gr
Information points for EFEPAE (Intermediary Body of Operational Programmes for Competitiveness and Entrepreneurship) & their regions units: www.efepae.gr
Action Communication Material
Action communication material (media kit)
Action infographic in pdf format
Action summary in pdf format
