Regione Toscana

Partner's Profile

The ERNEST project will see collaboration between 2 sectors of the department of Economic Development of the Regione Toscana: the Sector for Tourism and Trade and the Sector for Innovation and Research. The Sector for Tourism and Trade is in charge of development policies for tourism, trade, spas and the tertiary sectors. The office is in charge of the study & development of legislation, financial support to SMEs, coordination of policies for territorial marketing on tourism and sustainability. It counts on an annual budget of 80 million euros and has a staff of 25 people. The Sector for Innovation and Research has an annual budget of 45 million euro and a staff of 22 people. The sector has participated in 25 European projects, 6 as coordinator and is in charge of 4 DOCUP measures, financing over 600 projects since 2002, on: Financial Engineering, Innovation in tourist and commerce SMEs, Industrial Research and the Information Society.

Partner's experience in the field of sustainable tourism

The Regione Toscana has long been undertaking research, promotion and implementation of operational projects in sustainable tourism. These include: the protocol "Welcome to Tuscany" which supports the spread of good practices on tourism hospitality; the protocol "Welcome to Tuscany - for Women" which produced a new tourist offer tailored on the tastes and needs of female tourists,  the "Orange Curtains" project, which introduced an environmental quality label for in-land tourist destinations. Tuscany has an active role in the promotion of international debate on sustainable tourism, organizes each year the "Euromeeting conference" and is one of the founders of the NECSTouR (Network of European Regions for a Sustainable and Competitive Tourism) network. Besides that, the Region invests in innovation and research in sustainable tourism development both through direct financing and financing research in the framework of the DOCUP. In addition to regional research projects, Tuscany is active in European projects. being lead partner of EVIMED (INTERREG IIIB), which elaborates sustainable tourism policies using environmental, economical and social indicators, and partner in NURMEDIT (INTERREG IIIB) which promotes the development of small urban centres through tourism.