EU, Sweden, Austria announce €860,000 for tourism development initiatives in mountainous Georgia

The EU, Sweden and Austria are calling for grant proposals under the Tourism Development Initiative (TDI) in tourism development for the mountainous Georgian municipalities of Mestia, Lentekhi, Tsageri, Oni, Ambrolauri, Sachkhere, Chiatura and Tkibuli.

Tourism Development Initiative (TDI) support per applicant or group of applicants will consist of grants between €5,000 and €50,000 with the co-financing share at a minimum 10 per cent of the total budget. The duration of projects must be at least six months and may not exceed 24 months. All TDI activities must have finished by 30 September 2022.

The deadline for submission of the application form and supporting documents for this call is August 3, 2020.

Ambassador of the European Union to Georgia Carl Hartzell stated that the goal of the project is to support the recovery of tourism operators and to allow them to develop and expand their services and activities for the future. 

Our focus will be on environmentally friendly, community-based initiatives", he said.

Ambassador of Sweden to Georgia Ulrik Tidestrom said that the COVID-19 crisis has hit tourism in Georgia hard, 'which further increases the relevance of our support'.

With this call for tourism development initiatives, we aim to empower and give more opportunities and hope to entrepreneurs in sustainable mountain tourism in the selected municipalities", he said.

Austrian Ambassador to Georgia Arad Benko said that the objective of the Tourism Development Initiative is to improve the business environment and create income-generating opportunities in sustainable mountain tourism to reduce poverty and exclusion in the selected mountain areas of Georgia.

"Therefore, co-financing opportunities, capacity building and experience sharing, for registered commercial and non-commercial entities and individuals nowadays are one of the most important actions to economic recovery”, he said.