Recovery Funding Programs for Greek Tourism SMEs to Open in December

Small and medium-sized tourism enterprises in Greece will be able to tap into 1.6 billion euros in recovery funding next month when the relevant programs open to applications.

More specifically, 250 million euros will be allocated to tourism businesses with plans to diversify their product. Funding will cover actions aimed at enhancing, developing or diversifying products on offer in mountain tourism, health and wellness tourism (including the utilization of thermal springs), agritourism and gastronomy, upgrading tourism infrastructure such as ports and marinas, diving tourism, and accessibility to beaches.

The program, to open at the beginning of next year, will subsidize investments by up to 100 percent.

Other SME business investments to be funded include ‘green’ and ‘digital’ projects, agrifood projects, the expansion of SMEs. Besides offering support to small and medium-sized enterprises, the government hopes to accelerate the absorption of EU recovery funds.

One of the most ambitious incentive programs is the “Exoikonomo” energy savings program for homes. This program, amounting to 450 million euros, opens next month and will also cover energy upgrades which achieve a reduction of at least 30 percent of energy costs for SMEs.

Companies eligible will be able through subsidies to cover energy upgrades of buildings, production processes, heat recovery systems, installation of ‘smart’ energy systems, and electric distribution vehicles, among others. 

Additionally, tourism enterprises wishing to digitize services will have access to a total of 375 million euros in funding which may cover as much as 100 percent of eligible investments. 

The support programs are aimed at helping enterprises become more competitive and stimulate business activity that will in turn create jobs.

Investments in sustainable agrifood practices as well as cluster enterprises will also be eligible for subsidies of up to 100 percent from a total of 520 million euros. The program is slated to run in the first three months of 2022.

The government is also planning to announce a series of incentives, including tax breaks, for small and medium-sized enterprises entering mergers or acquisition deals with the aim of increasing company size or creating more competitive companies in Greece and abroad.