Submission Process

The ST3ER Project

ST3ER (www.st3er.eu) is a 3-year Project (September 2023-August 2026) having a budget of €3.1m and co-funded by the European Union, to enhance the competitiveness and resilience of tourism SMEs.

The main objectives of ST3ER are to facilitate tourism SMEs in the project partner regions in green and digital transition, in building capacity, in development/scaling up, in fostering innovative solutions for sustainable tourism (new business models, innovative services, heightened resilience) and in promoting best practice exchanges, knowledge sharing and transfer.

The ST3ER Project partners are:

1. Údarás na Gaeltachta, Ireland (Co-ordinator)
2. WestBic, Ireland
3. UPTEC – Associação de Transferência de Tecnologia da Asprela, Portugal
4. Fundacion Bahía de Cádiz para el Desarrollo Economico, Spain
5. Razvojni Center Srca Slovenije d.o.o., Slovenia
6. Founden Creative Business CUP, Denmark

Call for projects

ST3ER now invites innovative digital and / or green projects, led by ambitious experiential tourism-oriented SMEs in the project partner regions under the following two categories:

1. Individual SME Innovation Projects (€25,000 grant) specifically aimed at tourism-oriented SMEs focussing on innovative responses to the thematic twin transition challenges, including a minimum of one digital or green practice from Table 1 below;
2. Collaborative Innovation Projects involving a partnership of 2 - 4 tourism SMEs (€30,000 grant) targeting experimental (innovative) carbon footprint reduction measures or any of the green practices listed below in Table 1.

Table 1: Digital and Green Practices

Digital practices

Artificial Intelligence,

Augmented and Virtual Reality,

Big Data and Data Analytics,

Blockchain,

Cloud Computing,

Internet of Things,

Other digital practices related to tourism.

Green practices

Developing a Biodiversity action plan,

Carbon Foot printing and carbon reduction,

Circular Economy thinking and transition to circular economy business models/ Waste prevention/recycling,

Climate Adaptation,

Environmental Management System,

Green Procurement,

Life Cycle Assessment,

Sustainability Benchmarking,

Sustainable Logistics,

Sustainable Packaging.

Applicants must clearly describe and demonstrate the innovative aspect(s) of their proposed project at submission stage, clarifying how the project will contribute to innovating the offer in the tourism ecosystem. The financial support provided will support 100% of the implementation of the innovative project within the granted budget.

In addition to financial support, ST3ER will provide access to

1. A mandatory bespoke 30-hour programme of 1:1 mentoring in agreed areas of expertise from a pool of experts established specifically for ST3ER.
2. Knowledge/capacity building via 6 online learning modules.
3. Events organised by ST3ER, including deep dives, cross-sectoral huddles, bootcamps and forums; the programme of events is currently being planned and additional opportunities may be added; participation in events external to ST3ER may also be agreed.
4. At least one on-site ST3ER event within the duration of the Innovation Project, bringing opportunities for engagement and exchange of best practices.
5. Participation in the ST3ER online community bringing further opportunities for collaboration and knowledge transfer.

The total budget available for this call is €1,480,000. It is envisaged that 40 Individual SME Innovation Projects alongside 16 Collaborative Innovation projects will be selected in this first call for SMEs, following this indicative territorial break-down:

1. Denmark - 4-8 individual projects, 1-5 collaborative projects,
2. Ireland 6-10 individual projects, 1-5 collaborative projects,
3. Portugal 7-11 individual projects, 1-5 collaborative projects,
4. Slovenia 3-7 individual projects, 1-5 collaborative projects,
5. Spain 10-14 individual projects, 2-6 collaborative projects.

A second open call, with a budget of €480,000 will be made for scale-up projects in 2025.

Only SMEs in the partner countries / administrative regions will be eligible to participate in each of these calls. In Ireland, applicant SMEs must be operating in a Gaeltacht region within Cork, Donegal, Galway, Kerry, Meath, Mayo, or Waterford. In Slovenia, applicants must be based in the operational area of the Heart of Slovenia Local Action Group namely the municipalities of Dol pri Ljubljani, Kamnik, Litija, Lukovica, Moravče, and Šmartno pri Litiji.

Further detail regarding the call can be found at

Calls for Projects – ST3ER

Application Process

Applications will be accepted from SMEs up until 23:59 CET of 30th of September, 2024 in English (or English or Irish in the case of Irish SMEs) via this online form; submissions by any other means will be excluded. Any extension to this closing date will be publicly promoted.

Only one application per SME (either Individual or Collaborative), will be accepted. Where an SME submits more than one application, only the last one received will be considered.

Evaluation Process

Evaluation of each innovative project proposal will be based on five main criteria.

1. Innovative approach: (40 marks available)
2. Enterprise viability: (10 marks available)
3. Excellence: (10 marks available)
4. Relevance: (20 marks available)
5. Implementation of the Project: (20 marks available)

A minimum of 40% for each criterion must be reached for a proposal to be considered for support. Projects meeting that minimum threshold but not initially selected will be put on a reserve list, and may subsequently be invited to participate if a selected SME chooses not to participate or continue with the project.

Project launch and duration

It is expected that projects within this call will be completed over a 9-12 month period, with launch of successful applications taking place c. 1st December, 2024.