The project targets tourism SMEs in the European Capitals of Culture and supports them to:
- Develop a data-driven approach beyond the right website, tool or application, helping them grasp the importance of making data and analytics part of the tourism business strategies, offers and products, of their organizational processes and culture, if they want to be competitive, sustainable and attractive;
- Build the link between tourism destinations and tourism SMEs; the project focus on European Capitals of Culture and stretches the year event over a long- lasting period – from about ten years before the bid to a very long legacy – and actively involves tourism SMEs in the co-creation of the event, so as to spur sustainable tourism and sustainable development;
- Create a multidisciplinary business approach that leverages synergies between tourism, culture, creativity and digital technology;
- Experience a challenging funnel-like support scheme that includes capacity building, mentoring and learning, along with a collaborative creativity-oriented matchmaking, other than opportunities for financial support;
- Immerse themselves into a fun, evidence-based assessment process that combines communication, impact evaluation and self-assessment.
Final results of the first open call for tourism SMEs
THE CALL IS CLOSED
THANKS TO ALL THE PARTICIPANTS
THROUGH THIS CALL, THE CULTOURDATA PROJECT WILL SUPPORT TOURISM SMES
BY GUIDING THEM TO MAKE A BETTER USE OF DATA, USING CREATIVE CUSTOMER-ENGAGING APPROACHES AND NEW TECHNOLOGIES
Open Calls
Apply to the 1st Open Call for Tourism SMEs with data experts/organizations and artist/creative professionals
Join the extensive list for Tourism SMEs
To apply to the 1st open call you must join the extensive list: click on the image to discover more!
Join the extensive list for data experts/organizations and artist/creative professionals
To apply to the 1st open call you must join the extensive list: click on the image to discover more!
Actions
CulTourData will build on the TraCEs – Cultour is Capital action (COSME Programme, 2018-2020) by strengthening the arrangement of a multidisciplinary ecosystem involving players in tourism, CC and digital fields. The project will enhance data-driven, accessible and transformative cultural tourism across Europe by organizing a two-fold support scheme that targets both tourism SMEs and European Capitals of Culture. It is articulated in:
ECoC-led Ecosystem – Supporting cooperation, capacity building and knowledge transfer among ECoCs (past, present and upcoming)
ECoCs Watch – Boosting and learning how to create a data-driven culture among ECoCs, especially future Capitals, by organizing a system of market intelligence that will help collect and analyze, then provide open access to, a broad amount of information, data, analysis, best practices and lessons learned, enhancing skills and strategies when these using data for tourism development and working at ECoCs’ legacy
Transformative Bootcamp – Building on information and insights from the EcoC Watch to improve the business environment for tourism SMEs. They will be empowered to get and learn why and how to be a data- driven market player through:
- an inspirational mentoring approach set between digitally advanced SMEs and those lagging behind in the digital transformation process;
- a virtual programme helping them explore and learn data-driven approaches that they could usefully apply in their own context;
- a pattern of Collaborative Matchmaking that will help tourism SMEs move through their digital transformation, supporting them to be more sustainable and provide travellers with more personalised offers and experiences. Each tourism SME will be matched with a) a cultural and creative SME or professional and b) a player active in the field of ICT/digital technology, including data analysts and strategists, that will help the tourism SME develop and/or improve viable and sustainable tourism business models and strategies, including rethinking decision-making and organisational processes, and develop new products and services more accessible and provided with higher value added. Grants of EUR 7,000 will be offered for this purpose to selected cultural creatives, professionals and data specialists, following an Open Call.
ECoCs Policy Lab – Stimulating active participation in cultural and tourism policy making at local and regional level by leading the diverse audiences (public authorities, businesses, associations and NGOs, foundations and communities) closer to data collected through the ECoCs Watch. The initiative is expected to evolve into a plurality of territorial approaches to policy trial and experimentation, each ECoC supported to design its own path to link policies to programmes to funding opportunities.
Evidence-based creative Communication and Dissemination – Creating a link between communication and impact evaluation, involving SMEs in the creation of videos and pieces of stories that will feed project storytelling, and will emphasize how empowerment, learning and capacity building unfold through the project activities.
Our project will stimulate the rise of better accelerator programs in the ECoCs. It will foster the harnessing of collective intelligence and open data, boosting the collaboration of machines and humans from different fields and backgrounds, promoting the use and re-use of data and knowledge as it emerge from synergies among past, present and future ECoCs, tourism destinations and tourism businesses, digitally-advanced tourism businesses and others that struggle with setting foot on this path, private and public players.
Partnership
The public-private partnership is made up of 8 partners, representing 7 countries. It includes different entity profiles, among CC SMEs, Tourism and CCIs Clusters, a Public Tourism Agency, a Business Incubator, a Public Business Support Organization/Public Authority, a University and the European Network for Accessible Tourism.
Each partner is linked to one ECoC (Matera 2019, Leeuwarden 2018, Chemnitz 2025, Košice 2013, Lieira 2027 and Extremadura 2030).
The rationale for selecting and arranging this combination of organizations is based on: diverse range of ECoC case histories built or to be built, capacity to reach target groups and direct links with tourism SMEs, diverse range of geographies and backgrounds, skills and expertise, experience of cooperation in other EU projects, with opportunities for exploiting a diverse range of outputs.
Consorzio Materahub Industrie Culturali e Creative is a SME acting as an intermediary organization supporting CCIs in capacity-building and cross- fertilization with other sectors. It is the Coordinator of the project and will add value through the wealth of networks, experiences, tools and frameworks that really fit to the scope of this project.
Basilicata Creativa is the cluster of cultural and creative industries of the Basilicata Region, and includes important Italian research bodies (CNR, ENEA), the University of Basilicata and CC companies. It will be the coordinator of the Collaborative Matchmaking and will deal with the major part of the support scheme.
Inqubator Leeuwarden is a foundation backed by the Municipality of Leeuwarden, and helps entrepreneurs establish their business and maximise their personal growth. It will co-coordinate the Transformative Bootcamp and will co-coordinate the Collaborative Matchmaking.
Ip Leira is a HEI that includes research centres, four incubators and one start-up accelerator. It will lead the ECoCs Watch and will act as co-coordinator of the Collaborative Matchmaking and of the ECoC Policy Lab.
Economic Development Corporation, City of Chemnitz is the central business support agency for the city of Chemnitz, and is co-responsible for the current realignment and the new foundation of the Destination Marketing Organisation for Chemnitz-Zwickau-Region. It will lead the ECoC Policy Lab, with a full engagement in the running of the ECoCs Watch.
Association of Extremadura Tourism Cluster has the main aim to promote the development of tourism sector in the Extremadura region. They will provide high support in the development and management of the support scheme. The same way they can be a very active voice in ECoCS Watch and Policy Lab.
ENAT has the mission is to make European tourism destinations, products and services accessible to all travellers and to promote accessible tourism around the world. ENAT will lead all the communication and dissemination activities.
Košice Turizmus is a Public Tourism Agency, and itse mission is deeply rooted in the ECoC Košice 2013. It will help manage the support scheme, the ECoCS Watch and the Policy Lab.