The matching phase ended on 15 October and resulted in the creation of 56 TANDEMs made up of European SMEs and start-ups mainly from Italy, Germany and Slovakia.

78 tourism SMEs took part in the matching phase, as well as around 40 non-tourism start-ups. The non-tourism startups, although not eligible for funding, will support their partner tourism SME in the ecological transition.

The TANDEM cooperation

The companies forming a TANDEM chose each other on the basis of their common interest in solving one of the 5 sustainability challenges identified by the EU ECO-TANDEM team:

·      22 TANDEMs will tackle the challenge “mobility management” and will foster green mobility

·       9 TANDEMs will respond together to the green challenges that the Covid-19 pandemic has posed to the tourism sector

·      12 TANDEMs will collaborate on the topic of energy conservation, to reduce the tourism carbon footprint.

·      3 TANDEMs will address the issue of water management, to make the tourism sector ready to the challenges of climate change.

·      10 TANDEMs will work on the 'waste management' challenge, to promote the valorisation of discards and increase the life cycle of products used in the tourism sector

What’s coming next

Starting from mid-October 2022, the Tandems will have 45 days to finalise and submit their Plan of Action. The members of our High-Level Advisory Board will then assess the plans of action received and select the winning TANDEMs. The TANDEMs receiving a voucher will implement their projects in early 2023.

We wish all TANDEMs a fruitful collaboration. Looking forward to the results!