I-STARS OPEN CALL FOR GRANTS FOR TOURISM BUSINESSES

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1. Company Name *

2. Company website (if not available please write N/A): *

3. Company Social Media (if not available please write N/A) *

4. Date of establishment (dd/mm/yyyy) *

5. Legal Representative (Name and Surname) *

6. Contact person for this Application (name,surname,email address & telephone number) *

7. Established and operating in *

8. Is your company operating on an island? *

9. Your Tourism Business address (street,city,country) *

10. VAT number (If not available please insert N/A) *

11. Legal registration number *

12. Number of employees in 2022 *

13. Annual turnover in 2022, or 2021 if not available *

14. Code of Activity - NACE *

15. The applicant MSMEs must demostrate their economic activity in tourism.Briefly describe your tourism business *

16. Have you applied, or received funding, under another EU, national/regional/local, or international program related to the sustainability performance of your business? *

Yes
No

17. If yes, please specify the funding program, activity that received funding and year of award. (Note: the same actions financed by other programs are ineligible - double funding is strictly forbidden). *

18. Why are you interested in the I-STARS Grant? Explain your motivation for making your tourism business more sustainable . (award criterion 1.1) *

19. Please explain how the activities/services you request to be funded through the I-STARS Grant will help your business accomplish the overall objectives of this Open Call for Grants. (award criterion 1.2) *

20. How will achieving sustainability benefit your tourism business? (award criterion 2.1) *

21. What positive impacts do you expect these initiatives to have on the environment and local community? (related to Award Criterion 2.2) *

22. Sustainability Commitment. By checking the boxes below, I confirm that my tourism business is committed to fully undergo all steps of the funded services and demostrate a genuine commitment to sustainability - please tick as many as applicable (award criterion 3.1): *

We are committed to implementing sustainable practices and intiatives in our business operations
We understand that the funded services will involve a comprehensive assessment of our current practices and identification of areas for improvement, at least before and after the implementation of the funded services
We understand that we will collaborate with experts and consultants provided through the funded services to develop a tailored sustainability plan
We will actively participate and complete the I-STARS online courses to enhance our knowledge and skills in sustainable tourism paractices PRIOR to starting to implement the funded services
We are committed in implementing the recommendations and actions outlined in the sustainability plan developed through the funded services
We will provide progress updates, reports and financial report as required by the funding organisation (local implementing agency) to track the implementation and impact of the sustainability initiatives

23. Do you have any previous experience or initiatives related to sustainable practices in the tourism industry? Please list previous participation in sustainability seminars/trainings, steps taken or past attempts to acquire environmental management/sustainability certification, etc (award criterion 3.2) *

24. Please describe how you intend to maintain the results/impact of services funded through the I-STARS Grant; do you plan to continue/pursue further sustainability activities (e.g. renewing certification labels, undertake activities towards protecion of environment, collaboration with local community, etc.)? (award criterion 3.3) *

25. Are you open to sharing your sustainability practices and progress with other tourism businesses and stakeholders to inspire industry-wide change? *

26. Please select the services/activities you want to be funded through the I-STARS Grant (you may select more than one of the below-listed activities. If the cost of the action exceeds €5,600, then any extra costs will be co-financed by you, while the grant amount cannot exceed €5,600): *

Preparation, application and audit fees for sustainability certification schemes (such as EU Ecolabel, EMAS, etc)
Development of Sustainability Strategy Plans and the implementation of measures leading to transition to sustainable business systems
Purchase of Tools or Software / Technology solutions necessary to monitor and improve sustainability performance derived from recommendations generated under 3rd party certification schemes, sustainability strategies, OEF. COSTS UNDER THIS CATEGORY ARE ALLOWED UP TO 20% OF TOTAL GRANT AMOUNT, while they must be authorized and approved by the I-STARS Grants Selection Committee.
Organisation Environmental Footprint (OEF); including consulting, generation and implementaiton of recommendations of OEF studies
Training and capacity-building activities to empower staff of tourism MSMEs towards innovation and sustainability. COSTS UNDER THIS CATEGORY ARE ALLOWED UP TO 20% OF TOTAL GRANT AMOUNT IN ORDER TO ENCOURAGE MORE CERTIFICATION UPTAKE

27. Is there any other relevant information you would like to share with us to support your application? *

28 a. Please upload in PDF Format: Budget Form (Annex II) *

Click or drag a file to this area to upload.

28 b. Please upload in PDF Format: Copy of official Company Registration Certificate, or other suitable official document proving the operation of an enterprise (registration date must be over 2 years). This certification can be submitted in original national language, if not available in English; a courtesy translation must be provided in such a case. *

Click or drag a file to this area to upload.

28 c. Please upload in PDF Format: The signed and dated "Declaration of Legal Representative" (Annex III) *

Click or drag a file to this area to upload.

By submitting this application form, you acknowledge that all information provided in this application is accurate, complete, and true to the best of your knowledge. You also confirm your commitment to fully undergo all steps of the funding services and demostrate a genuine commitment to sustainability.

Once the application is submitted and within 5 working days, applicants will receive a confirmation e-mail message (with date and time of appplication submission). If you do not receive this information e-mail, please get in touch with the I-STARS Call Helpdesk of your country.

To process and evaluate applications, I-STARS Implementing Agencies will need to collect Personal and Organisation Data of the MSMEs. Each local Implementing Agency will act as Data Controller for data submitted through the Application forms for these purposes. Data is managed in compliance with the General Data Protection Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (GDPR). Each applicant accepts the Privacy policy terms to ensure coverage of GDPR provisions. As a requirement of the funding organization the names of participating MSMEs will be published on the I-STARS Call Page (https://ccci.org.cy/istars-project/). Information/data will also be shared with the grant awarding body (European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency (EISMEA)), who may also publish general information accordingly.