Calls

Call for Expression of Interest for Service Providers - CLOSED!

 

The EuroCluster Rural Tourism is looking for qualified consultants (individual experts, companies or other organisations, informal consortia) based in any EU member state or third country participating in the COSME programme, to provide technical assistance to rural SMEs.

The consultants will offer a full technical assistance pack to enable the 190 rural tourism SMEs participating in the project to design and develop new tourism products for international markets by integrating digital, green/sustainable and socio-cultural improvements in their business.

The consultants will be paid by the rural tourism SMEs which will be selected to be the beneficiaries of the project. The selected SMEs will be entitled to receive a voucher valued indicatively at an average of EUROS 5,000, to meet the cost of professional assistance.

The call for expression of interest for qualified consultants will remain open until the 21st of April 2023. For full details, see the Call for Expression of Interest and fill the Application form. -CLOSED

 

FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)

1. Can one Assistance Service Provider (ASP) provide technical advice and support to rural tourism SMEs in more fields than one?

An ASP (individual experts, organisations/ companies, informal consortia) can provide specialist support in more than one field as long as they can support their claim with proof of competence for each field separately. The required qualifications for each field are listed in the call for ASP.

2. In the case of more fields for one ASP – each field has 10 – 15 days available? Or 10 – 15 days are for one ASP for more fields together?

We have estimated around 10-12 days for the whole consultancy pack, the recommended calculation are 3-4 days for the overall management / frame (first assessment, on-site visit, improvement plan, final visit, meetings) and 7-9 days of specific expert advisory service.

3. How many hours for technical advice and support is for one day?

All project outcomes are measured by results, not by official dedication in time, and we will not ask for timesheets.

4. Which countries will be included in the Call for SMEs?

The call for SME's will be open to countries that have ASPs covering all four areas of specialist support, either by seperate experts or by single entities (official or unoffical consortia) and the local language is spoken by the experts.

5. How will advisory services be coordinated?

In the countries where we have a regional or national consortium member (ES, IT, RO, CZ) the coordination between different individual ASP will be done by this partner in their territory. In other regions or countries, the expert or entity responsible for the Area 1 - Business Mentoring shall establish the improvement plan in case of individual expert ASP. Within this, it defines the days for each of the other areas and then assumes the coordination.