RESTART MED!

Photo by Frédéric Barriol on Unsplash

REvitalization of Sustainable Tourism Across Regions in The MEDiterranean

About the project

RESTART MED! is aimed at revitalizing the tourism economy after the COVID-19 pandemic, by building on and learning from previous experiences and practices, using this moment to boost sustainability together with the economic recovery of this key industry. The project will support tourism providers to work alongside public and civil society stakeholders for a better and resilient recovery, by creating more sustainable policies and products. A positive change is expected through a reset of basic tourism principles where the diversified, sustainable offer and common branding will reattract tourists. This will be achieved thanks to the exploitation and dissemination of best practices and results of at least 8 sustainable tourism projects, and the via the reinforcement and extension of stakeholder networks of at least 5 capitalizable projects with a common brand and platform. Finally, the project will raise awareness among public authorities and policy-makers, promoting sustainable tourism good practices among them, and supporting mainstreaming into policies.

Key information

Acronym:

RESTART MED!

Full title:

REvitalization of Sustainable Tourism Across Regions in The MEDiterranean

Thematic objective:

A.1 Business and SMEs development

Priority:

A.1.3 Sustainable tourism

Countries:

Italy, Spain, Lebanon, Jordan, Tunisia

Financial data

1.1 million

Total budget

0.9 million

EU contribution

10%

Project co-financing

Highlights

Project in numbers

Partners

Countries

Technical outputs

Project duration

Start date

01 September 2021

End date

30 September 2023

Partnership

News

Events

Library

Project outputs

Documents

Videos

Objective

To contribute to the economic and social development in the Mediterranean, strengthening, disseminating and scaling up successful sustainable tourism practices and resources thus supporting recovery and building a community of tourism opportunities

What will be improved?

A joint branding will be launched, emphasizing the feelgood factor for the tourist in having “authentic experiences”, respectful of local environments, communities and cultures, while enjoying quality tourism services. Standards will be raised to exploit natural, historical, cultural and environmental resources through responsible tourism: more jobs created, increased income of local communities and avoiding seasonality of tourism products, focusing on proximity and local dimensions. The Mediterranean as a whole will be better recognized as a sustainable tourism destination, resulting in increased arrivals of responsible tourists and, in a fairer geographical distribution of benefits: tourism reaching also remote and rural areas.

Who will benefit?

Tour operators and travel agencies
Tourism businesses such as guides, hotels, restaurants, farmers and winemakers
Public Authorities with a regulatory and policy-making role in tourism
Civil society actors in the fields of wildlife, parks, heritage and sport

Expected achievements

20 subgrants for visibility of tourism products
7 awareness raising initiatives to build sustainable communities
50 enterprises and local community entities benefiting from trainings on sustainability and promotion
An online sustainable tourism community platform enabled
At least 20 new jobs created within the beneficiary MSMEs and project partners

Contribution to policy-making

RESTART MED! supports policy-makers and public authorities to design/improve public policies and measures for sustainable tourism. For each target territory, the project is in line with national and local policies: in Catalonia (Spain), the Tourism Strategic Plan highlights the quality of the tourism assets to reduce seasonality and mass tourism, while increasing the positive economic impact in less known areas. The Marketing Plan focuses on specific products to enhance the balance between tourism and quality. The project is coherent with the Italian Strategic Plan for Tourism aiming at jointly developing the sector with main Mediterranean partners. As for Tunisia, the project is consistent with the Tunisia National Tourism Office plans for development of sustainable tourism as a tool for conservation, protection of bio-cultural diversity and sustainable development of communities. In Lebanon it is in line with the principles of the current Rural Strategy of the Lebanese Ministry of Tourism, strengthening the participatory approach and involvement of local communities at destinations. The project also matches some of the key principles of Jordan’s National Tourism strategies such as the diversification of tourism offer, valorization of natural and cultural resources, maximizing complementarities of public and private sectors, enhancing tourism-related policies and regulations and increasing international cooperation in the sector.

About the project

Acronym

RESTART MED!

Title

REvitalization of Sustainable Tourism Across Regions in The MEDiterranean

Description

RESTART MED! is a project aligned with the ENICBCMED response strategy to COVID-19: building resilience in the Mediterranean to rebound from the global pandemic. RESTART MED! aims to revitalize the tourism economy after the pandemic, by building on and learning from previous experiences and practices, using this moment for a restart and boosting sustainability at the same time as economic recovery. The economic and social impact of the pandemic is an unprecedented challenge affecting the tourism sector, which sums to other challenges Med countries to reduce disparities, increase job opportunities, promote dialogue and understanding, peace and stability. A major effort is needed to build more equal, inclusive and sustainable economies and societies that are resilient in the face of pandemics and global changes. RESTART MED! can and will support tourism providers to work alongside public and civil society stakeholders to not only recover, but recover better and more resilient, by creating more sustainable policies and products, and access for tourists to those products. This is best done through a participatory (public, private, civil society) and comprehensive approach (across tourism niches and sustainability pillars: environmental, socioeconomic, cultural). A positive change is expected through a reset of basic tourism principles, at provider, policy-maker and consumer level, in revitalized local economies in tourism destinations, where the diversified, sustainable offer and common branding will (re)attract tourists. Expected outputs include: - exploitation and dissemination of best practices/results of at least 8 Sustainable Tourism projects, cross-fertilizing across tourism niches and destination types - reinforced & extended stakeholder networks of at least 5 capitalizable projects thanks to a common brand and platform. - raised awareness at public authorities & policy makers of sustainable tourism good practices and support for mainstreaming into policies

Role

Name of the organisation

Country

Region

Contact

Lead beneficiary

International Committee for the Development of Peoples

Italy

Lazio

Partner 1

Barcelona Official Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Services and Navigation

Spain

Cataluña

Partner 2

Catalan Tourist Board

Spain

Cataluña

Partner 3

American University of Beirut

Lebanon

Partner 4

Jordan University of Science and Technology

Jordan

Irbid

Partner 5

WORLD WILD FUNDS MEDITERRANEAN NORTH AFRICA

Tunisia

Tunis

Associates

Role

Name of the organisation

Country

Associate 1

Barcelona Provincial Council - Diputacio de Barcelona (DIBA)

Spain

Associate 2

Association of the Mediterranean Chambers of Commerce and Industry (ASCAME)

Spain

Associate 3

Ministry of Tourism

Lebanon

Associate 4

Tunisian National Tourism Office - ONTT

Tunisia

Associate 5

Ministero dei Beni e delle Attività Culturali e del Turismo - MIBACT - Segretariato Generale

Italy

Associate 6

Ministry of Tourism & Antiquities of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan

Jordan

Associate 7

International Social Tourism Organisation (ISTO)

Other

Project news

14 September 2023

Discover Mediterranean Adventure Treasures with RESTART MED! and MEDUSA

Are you looking for Mediterranean sustainable adventures? check out this initiative from our sister project MEDUSA.

Sustainable tourism

Artisanal fishing

Green entrepreneurship

Technology transfer

Resource efficiency

Creative industries

Elderly care

Social and solidarity economy

Women’s empowerment

Water efficiency

Waste management

Marine litter

About the project

Key information

Financial data

Highlights

Project in numbers

Project duration

Partnership

News

Events

Library

Project outputs

Documents

Videos

Objective

What will be improved?

Who will benefit?

Expected achievements

Contribution to policy-making

About the project

Associates

Discover Mediterranean Adventure Treasures with RESTART MED! and MEDUSA

RESTART MED! empowers eco-adventures in Tunisia

Get to know RESTART MED! SMEs in Catalonia

RESTART MED! explores the essence of South-West Sicily

RESTART MED! Scales up climate-resilient sustainable tourism in the MED

RESTART MED! Interviews Gilbert Moukheiber, Lebanese sustainable tourism entrepreneur

RESTART MED! Climbing in Tunisia is more than an outdoor activity!

Traveling with RESTART MED!: discover Gibellina in Sicily

RESTART MED! at sustainable tourism entrepreneurship event in Aqaba, Jordan

Tourism: meet RESTART MED! subgrants beneficiaries in Catalonia

RESTARTMED! Interviews Boukra, a Heritage & Sustainability NGO leaded by women in Lebanon

RESTART MED! launches new brand and dialogue space for the Mediterranean sustainable tourism community

RESTART MED! An exciting change awaits in the sector

RESTART MED! call for tenders for an Expert on Policy Reviews in Tunisia [DEADLINE EXTENDED]

Italy: RESTART MED! meets mayors in Sicily to study local policies on tourism

RESTART MED! embraces Regenerative Tourism

RESTART MED! in Spain launches a tender for a policy expert

RESTART MED! and the Regenerative Tourism: contributing to the wellbeing of the community conference.

RESTART MED! opens call for tenders for an Expert on Policy Reviews in Tunisia

RESTART MED! relaunches 5 subgrants to be awarded for promoting sustainable tourism in Jordan

Five Mediterranean countries gathered in Palermo, Italy, to discuss the future of Sustainable Tourism

RESTART MED! highlights examples of good tourism practices in Spain

RESTART MED! tendering for publication and video production

RESTART MED! to award subgrants for promoting sustainable tourism in Tunisia

RESTART MED! to award 3 subgrants for promoting sustainable tourism in Lebanon

RESTART MED! opens calls for subgrants to promote sustainable tourism in Spain

RESTART MED! offers 3 subgrants to be awarded for promoting sustainable tourism in Jordan

RESTART MED! opens call for sub-grants for visibility activities of sustainable tourism products in Sicily, Italy

RESTART MED! offers a guideline to assess and monitor sustainability in Catalonia's tourism policies

What is Sustainable Tourism really about? RESTART MED! has some explanations for you

RESTART MED! trained over 100 tourism stakeholders in Catalonia, Spain

RESTART MED! organises free training on Sustainable Tourism and Promotion in Lebanon

RESTART MED! organises a training for sustainable tourism operators in Tunisia

Tips for your social media strategy: RESTART MED! continues its trainings in Sicily

RESTART MED! trains private and public tourism organisations in Catalonia: register now!

Sustainable Tourism, the future that is already present: the first focus group organized by RESTART MED! in Spain

RESTART MED! organises in Sicily a training programme for tourism operators in the Mediterranean

RESTART MED! presents the training manual for Sustainable Tourism

Tunisia: RESTART MED! is looking for an auditor

RESTART MED!: Tendering for an auditor in Jordan

Travelling with RESTART MED: Gibellina, Sicily

Traveling with RESTART MED! Second Stop: Byblos, Lebanon

Traveling with RESTART MED! First stop: Catalonia

Italy-based projects work together to improve sustainable tourism offer with RESTART MED!

RESTART MED!: tendering for an auditor in Spain

RESTART MED! born to promote sustainable tourism in the Mediterranean

Projects view

RESTART MED! project organises 3rd Sustainable Tourism Summit in Lebanon