New publications: certification pathways and financial tools for sustainable tourism SMEs
The first, Greening Tourism SMEs: A Practical Handbook, provides detailed insights into certification pathways and enabling conditions for uptake. The second, Financial Tools for Sustainable Tourism SMEs, offers a structured overview of available funding instruments and support mechanisms. Both documents are grounded in case-based research from across Europe and serve as actionable tools to guide cities and tourism actors in navigating sustainability challenges and opportunities.
Greening tourism SMEs: a practical handbook
This handbook outlines a detailed overview of sustainability certification frameworks and support systems currently in place across the EU. It includes:
11 case studies from various destinations, highlighting practical experiences of how local governments and tourism boards are facilitating SME engagement in certification schemes.
A structured typology of interventions, including:
Territorial or destination-based programmes,
Supportive tools such as technical guidance, training, or digital platforms,
Alignment with national or EU-level schemes (e.g. EMAS, EU Ecolabel, Green Key).
Analytical observations regarding the enabling conditions that support effective uptake of certification: policy coordination, resource allocation, local facilitation, and data monitoring.
The handbook also situates these practices within the broader regulatory and policy framework, particularly in relation to the Green Claims Directive, CSRD, and the EU Transition Pathway for Tourism, helping cities and intermediaries anticipate upcoming compliance requirements.
Financial tools for sustainable tourism SMEs
The second document complements the handbook by offering a structured mapping of available financial instruments and support mechanisms tailored to sustainable tourism SMEs.
It includes:
A classification of financial tools (grants, loans, blended finance, guarantee schemes, etc.) with a focus on environmental investments.
A summary of key EU-level programmes and instruments such as the InvestEU programme, Cohesion Policy funds, LIFE Programme, and EIB support tools relevant to sustainable tourism.
Concrete examples of local applications of financial instruments—including destination-level implementation cases and initiatives where public authorities act as intermediaries to unlock funding.
A section dedicated to capacity-building for financial absorption, covering technical assistance and the role of national promotional banks and institutions (NPBIs).
This guide is intended to be used by city officers, regional authorities, and tourism coordinators to facilitate access to finance for SMEs, particularly for investments in energy efficiency, climate mitigation and adaptation, waste reduction, and innovation.
A data-informed and structured approach
Both documents use structured analytical tools to offer synthetic comparisons between cases. The handbook includes summary tables of each case, rating interventions across multiple criteria (scope, instruments used, level of public support, type of SMEs involved). The financial tools guide includes visual mappings and categorisations that enable fast reference by type of actor and investment need.
These outputs are part of the broader implementation of the Sustainable Tourism Partnership's Action Plan, aiming to translate strategic objectives into actionable, replicable tools across the EU.
For more information on the Sustainable Tourism Partnership and its outputs, visit its dedicated webpage.