OVERVIEW
The Project
CapTour
The CapTour project – An initiative on Capitalising Tourism’s prospects of the region – consists of a set of actions, to be implemented over a two-year period with the ultimate goal to strengthen the key factors affecting entrepreneurial success in the tourism industry within the CB area.
The project is focusing on SMEs of this sector since the place and role of small and medium enterprises in the tourism and hospitality industry have a great impact on the socio-economic development of the CB area and tourism entrepreneurship development is considered a dynamic factor in the development of local communities. Strengthening the factors affecting entrepreneurship in tourism industry development entails the realization of concrete actions with a great impact on organizational and technological factors affecting it.
It is expected to result in the:
- Enhancement of the entrepreneurial business support environment in the tourism sector that nurtures entrepreneurship and entrepreneurs (including start-ups) through the provision of tailored services to their real needs (e.g. provision of personalized support services) and through the realization of activities targeting at building business networks.
- Strengthening of cross-border business opportunities in tourism through the realization of concrete activities such as the realization of sectoral round tables, building networks of business forums, study visits, thematic workshops, and finally the establishment of a business forum as a meeting point of the businesses active in the value chain of tourism.
- Enhancing skills and capacity building in the tourism sector through the realization of skills enhancement trainings, short sessions for boosting business skills, consultancy group sessions, and the provision of personalized support services and business coaching for entrepreneurs.
Through the development of the “Partnership Opportunity Platform” – a platform that will stay live and updated after the project’s completion – the main results of the project will contribute further to the improvement of the entrepreneurship conditions.
The project, at this second phase of evaluation, is seen as of even more crucial importance for the sector and the cross-border area, due to the impact that the ongoing health crisis (COVID-19) has in it which resulted in major changes in the touristic industry overall, compared to the state of things during its initial application.
CapTour’s beneficiaries, who are key stakeholders of the specific sector of the eligible program area, now more than ever before, stress the need for exploiting any possible opportunity for addressing the major concerns that this crisis raised, therefore address this initiative as a tool in achieving the businesses adaptation to the ‘new era’ of things.