Estonia, Good for Business, Investments, Markets and Companies, Tourism

Tourism companies and organizations submitted a record high number of applications in May to receive support geared at tourism companies for implementing their business models. All projects to be granted funding as part of the support program have now been selected and several services are being prepared.

Liina Maria Lepik, director for tourism development at Enterprise Estonia, said that considering the current economic conditions, the business model support has a direct impact on mitigating the effects of the COVID-19 crisis as development activities carried out during a quieter period will contribute to offsetting the loss of revenue during the crisis. 

"We were able to respond flexibly during the crisis and significantly simplify the support conditions; in addition to major projects, we also included in the program an option to grant support to small projects so that the help provided to entrepreneurs would be as swift and comprehensive as possible," Lepik said. 

Enterprises' interest in having their business model reviewed grew exponentially during the pandemic.

"Due to flexible conditions, we were able to include strong projects in the application round, and also receive additional funding for a new round of applications -- we are planning to reopen support for major projects at the start of 2021," Enterprise Estonia' director for tourism development said.

Enterprise Estonia financed close to 60 small business projects, with support thereto ranging from 5,000 to 20,000 euros per project. Support was granted to various tourism companies in the hospitality sector as well as to adventure holiday companies and water parks. The support will be used for developing contactless services, marketing, energy savings and prolonging high season.

Support was also granted to 22 major projects, the sums granted ranged from 20,000 to 200,000 euros. The funds will be used for launching new services, changing customer segment or introducing new business models.

A new 4.1-million-euro call for applications for tourism companies seeking to develop their business models will open on Jan. 7, 2021. The goal of the support is to boost the competitiveness of businesses and Estonia as a tourism destination, increase the number of overnight stays and visitor spending, reduce the impact of of low season and promote small and medium-sized entrepreneurship.

Support for implementing tourism companies' business models is financed by the European Regional Development Fund.