INSPIRES-2026-Second Call: Financial Support to SMEs

What do we offer?

Selected projects will receive:

1. • Lump-sum financial support of up to EUR 15 000 per project.
2. • Access to collaborative learning, networking and visibility at European level.
3. • 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.

1. Annex 6: Declaration of Honor
2. Annex 7: Application Form
3. Annex 8: Budget Template
4. 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.

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

1. ·Belgium: [email protected]
2. ·Finland: [email protected]
3. ·Germany: [email protected]
4. ·Poland: [email protected].