113 applications in second call for €10 million Tourism Grant Scheme for Private Enterprise

113 applications were received following the second call for projects to be funded by the €10 million Grant Scheme for Sustainable Tourism Projects by Enterprises financed through the European Regional Development Fund. The Call closed on the 30th November 2009. This Scheme forms part of the EU’s Structural Funds 2007-2013 for Malta and is addressed to projects by the private sector and NGOs.

The Parliamentary Secretary for Tourism, the Hon. Mario de Marco, said that this type of feedback from the private sector shows the great interest and commitment of our tourism operators to upgrade the product and services they offer to all those tourists who visit our islands. It is also a sign that the private sector is becoming more aware of the fact that they can tap into European funds which are being made available.

The number of applications in the second call shows an increase in the number of applications compared to the first call for which 91 were received. 30 projects from the first call were recently approved to benefit from the Scheme. The beneficiaries ranged from hotels and language schools, to diving schools, NGOs and other tourism-related operators – and will result in a total investment of over €4.6 million, of which €2 million will be co-funded by EU funds.

The Scheme, managed by the Tourism and Sustainable Development Unit within the Office of the Prime Minister, is directing funds towards the economic development of the tourism sector. The projects to be approved must be sustainable tourism projects, and have to strengthen Malta’s competitive advantage in tourism; increase the use of ICT for tourism; increase good environmental practice by tourism enterprises; and increase innovation in tourism.

The level of interest shown in this Scheme is also due to the fact that a number of information seminars were held, which provided interested applicants with further details on how to fill their application form.

The next stage of the process is that of evaluating all applications for eligibility and ranking them according to the preset criteria.

The next and last call for the same Scheme was issued in the first months of this year.