INSPIRES-2026-Second Call: Financial Support to SMEs

Home Funding Calls for proposals INSPIRES-2026-Second Call: Financial Support to SMEs INSPIRES-2026-Second Call: Financial Support to SMEs INSPIRES Grant Cascade funding Internal navigation General information Submission & evaluation process Further information Task description General Information Opening date 02 March 2026 Deadline model single-stage Deadline date 11 May 2026 23:59 (Brussels time) Open For Submission Expected duration of participation A minimum duration of 3 months and a maximum duration of 12 months. Expected start of collaborative projects on 15 June 2026; end of project duration on 28 February 2027 at the latest. Total funding available 195 000,00 € Project acronym INSPIRES Full name of the EU funded project Initiatives for Sustainable innovative Practices , Resilience , and Empowerment in Tourism SMEs Grant agreement number 101181590 Topic SMP-COSME-2023-TOURSME-01 - Transitioning to a more sustainable and resilient ecosystem – empowering tourism SMEs Submission & evaluation process What do we offer? Selected projects will receive: • Lump-sum financial support of up to EUR 15 000 per project. • Access to collaborative learning, networking and visibility at European level. • Structured evaluation and transparent selection in line with EU principles. Project Duration Projects must have a duration of minimum 3 and maximum 12 months (starting from 15 June 2026 and ending no later than 28 February 2027). Submission Process Applications must be submitted to partner country contacts (details see section “Further information”).in English using the official templates provided. Only complete applications submitted before the deadline and including all mandatory annexes (see list hereafter; templates are downloadable from the INSPIRES website) will be considered admissible. Annex 6: Declaration of Honor Annex 7: Application Form Annex 8: Budget Template Further proof of evidence (business registration, financial statements). Applicants are required to consult the Guidelines for Applicants available on the INSPIRES website. The Call opens on 02 March 2026 and applications must be submitted no later than 11 May 2026 at 23:59 CET. Evaluation Process and Award Procedure All applications will undergo an administrative verification to assess compliance with the admissibility and eligibility criteria defined in the Call documentation. Applicants must be Small or Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) legally established in Germany, Belgium, Finland, or Poland and operating in or contributing to the tourism sector. Each project must be implemented by a partnership of 2 to 5 independent legal entities. At least 50% of the partners must be tourism SMEs and at least 60% of the project funding must be allocated to tourism SME(s). Each partnership must designate one Lead Applicant, who must be a tourism SME and assumes administrative and financial responsibility for the project. Projects must clearly contribute to at least one of the following transformation areas: Sustainability, Digital Transformation, or Resilience. Each eligible application will be assessed by two independent evaluators appointed by the INSPIRES project partners and acting in full independence and without conflict of interest. Applications will be evaluated against three award criteria: Relevance and Impact; Quality and Feasibility; Partnership Collaboration. Each criterion is scored from 0 to 5. To be considered for funding, proposals must score at least 3 out of 5 for each criterion and a minimum total score of 9 out of 15. Funding will be awarded to the highest-ranked proposals until the available budget is exhausted, in line with national allocations defined in the Call. Personal data privacy will be managed in accordance with the applicable provisions set out in the Call documentation and relevant EU data protection legislation. Show more Further information Applicants are encouraged to consult the Guidelines for Applicants and the FAQ section published on the INSPIRES website. Any further questions regarding the Application Process should be addressed to the country contacts as follows ·Belgium: inspires@provincieantwerpen.be ·Finland: inspires@lapinamk.fi ·Germany: inspires@erlebnis-bremerhaven.de ·Poland: inspires@podkarpackie.pl. Task description The INSPIRES Second Open Call provides direct financial support to collaborative tourism projects contributing to the green, digital and resilient transition of the tourism ecosystem. This Second Open Call is launched to allocate remaining funding for PIONEER collaborative projects (lump-sum grants EUR 15,000) in Germany, Belgium Finland and Poland, and offering collaborative activities that will spark new ideas, partnerships, and opportunities for grow.