Greek Tourism funds 2527 SMEs for developmental projects

As part of the new funding scheme of ‘Strengthening the Establishment and Operation of New Small and Medium-sized Tourism Enterprises’ 2014-2020, an amount of  411.5 million euros will be allocated to 2,527 small and medium-sized tourism enterprises in Greece. It was announced by the Greek Economy and Development Ministry.

The awardees of the fund were selected after evaluating 7,297 investment plans for various objectives like hotel ventures, furnished rooms or apartments etc.

Out of the 2,527 SMEs, 1,786 are part of the ‘Competitiveness, Entrepreneurship and Innovation’ operational program and 741 are part of the regional operational programs.

The program was originally budgeted at 120 million euros but the high investment demand and the need to support as many quality investment projects as possible led to a decision to triple funding, as announced in September, to some 400 million euros.

The eligible enterprises can avail subsidies ranging from 25,000 to 400,000 euors.

“This action is a very important opportunity to utilize public and community resources in developing tourism investments with multiple benefits for the economy and substantial support for employment in the country and its regions,” said Stathis Giannakidis, Deputy Minister of Economy and Development

The results of the programmes will be posted on the websites of the operational programs within the next few days.