Greek Ministry Looking to Double Tourism Venture Funding

Photo © Maria Theofanopoulou

The economy ministry is set to announce in the coming days the allocation of 120 million euros for the funding of tourism ventures. Subsidies, according to media reports, will be boosted by an additional 120 million euros due to increased interest.

The NSRF (National Strategic Reference Framework) 2014-2020 program – titled “Strengthening the Establishment and Operation of New Small- and Medium-sized Enterprises” – is aimed at fostering the conditions and offering incentives to entrepreneurs wishing to set up new businesses in the area of tourism.

According to the ministry, interest exceeded all expectations with business plans submitted this far applying for a total of 1.1 billion euros in funding.

In view of the increased interest, the ministry is looking into the possibility of increasing funding by 120 million euros initially.

The funding of up to 200,000 euros as part of the 120-million-euro program announced last year is addressed to investors seeking to launch tourism-related businesses or proprietors needing to complete unfinished projects.

Photo © Maria Theofanopoulou

Eligible projects with budgets between 25,000 and 400,000 euros will be subsidized by 45 percent with funding reaching up to 50 percent if a new job position is created.

In the meantime, the ministry also announced 1,669 projects which will receive a total of 95,661,180 euros under the previous program funding tourism SMEs seeking to modernize and upgrade services. Anyone wishing to file an objection can do so by September 20, 2018.

The ministry also announced 1,170 projects to be awarded a total of 66,630,421 euros in funding under the tourism startup program.