By 2027, tourism will have EUR 1.4 billion in grants from European funds at its disposal

Tourism has a multi-year financial perspective of 2021-2027. a total of 1.42 billion euros is available for member countries through 15 adopted EU programs and funds, and IPA countries can participate in 6 of them.

With the multi-year financial framework 2021-2027, another EUR 200 million has been secured for tourism and sports infrastructure through calls that are being prepared, and the focus of the interests of tourism stakeholders are the programs of European Territorial Cooperation Interreg IPA Next Generation and other Union programs in which significant financial resources are intended for joint and partner projects of EU member states and countries in pre-accession status.

Accordingly, the 20th meeting of the EUSAIR thematic steering group 4 Sustainable tourism was held last week in Jahorina, which was co-organized by the Ministry of Tourism and Sports of the Republic of Croatia, the coordinator of the EUSAIR thematic pillar 4 Sustainable tourism and the project partner of the INTERREG ADRION Facility Point project and the DEI Directorate for European integration of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina, a member country that currently presides over the EU Strategy for the Adriatic-Ionian Region.

As part of the international round table "Youth in the tourism sector", also held in Sarajevo, seasonality of supply and demand, lack of labor force with high fluctuation, inadequacy of labor force, outdated programs at all levels were highlighted among the biggest common challenges of the sector in the area of the entire Adriatic-Ionian macro-region. according to which tourism sector workers are currently being educated in vocational and lifelong learning schools, as well as in higher education institutions. The disadvantages are bad or insufficient legal regulation of the sector, but also insufficient control of the implementation and application of legal regulations in practice, especially in the part related to labor laws.

The events were held in the context of expectations of the call for proposals from the INTERREG IPA ADRION 2021-2027 program, the first and new multi-year financial perspective 2021-2027, which was held on Tuesday, April 4, 2023, the revision of the Action Plan of the EU Strategy for the Adriatic the Ionian region, which will greatly influence its implementation in the future period, and Croatia's final preparations for the imminent assumption of the presidency of EUSAIR for a one-year term.