Following the launch of a €10 million Grant Scheme for Sustainable Tourism Projects by Enterprises financed through the European Regional Development Fund, 91 applications were received for the first call for projects which closed on 30th March. This Scheme forms part of the EU’s Structural Funds 2007-2013 for Malta.

The Parliamentary Secretary for Tourism, Mario de Marco, said that this type of feedback from the private sector shows the great interest and commitment of our tourism operators to upgrade the product and services they offer to all those tourists who visit our islands. It is also a sign that the private sector is aware of the fact that they can tap into European funds which are being made available.

The Scheme, managed by the Tourism and Sustainable Development Unit within the Office of the Prime Minister, will be directing funds towards the economic development of the tourism sector. The projects to be approved must be sustainable tourism projects, and have to strengthen Malta’s competitive advantage in tourism; increase the use of ICT for tourism; increase good environmental practice by tourism enterprises; and increase innovation in tourism.

The level of interest shown in this Scheme is also due to the fact that a number of information seminars were held, which provided interested applicants with further details on how to fill their application form.

The next stage of the process is that of evaluating all applications for eligibility and ranking them according to the preset criteria.

The next call for the same Scheme will be issued in October.