Greek Alternate Minister of Economy and Finance Nikos Papathanasis.

The Greek government has approved 295.7 million euros in public funding to support the creation and operation of small and medium-sized tourism businesses across the country, marking a major investment in the sector’s future growth.

According to a decision by Alternate Minister of Economy and Finance Nikos Papathanasis, a total of 1,573 funding applications have been approved under the action “Support for the Establishment and Operation of New Small and Medium-Sized Tourism Enterprises”. According to the Ministry of Economy, the initiative aims to stimulate entrepreneurship, create jobs, extend the tourism season, and boost regional development through targeted investment in the tourism sector.

The approved projects are co-financed by the European Union’s European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and national funds.

The evaluation process was carried out by ten regional committees covering 11 areas: North Aegean, Eastern Macedonia and Thrace, Central Macedonia, Epirus, Thessaly, Western Greece, Crete, Western Macedonia, Ionian Islands, Central Greece, and the Peloponnese. In total, 5,165 applications were reviewed, representing a requested public contribution of 959 million euros.

The latest approvals complete the evaluation of all submissions under the national funding scheme. Across Greece’s 13 regions, 6,669 total applications were submitted, of which 2,021 have now been approved, corresponding to total public funding of 379.5 million euros.

Results for the regions of Attica and the South Aegean were announced earlier, on May 30, with 448 projects receiving approval and public funding of 83.8 million euros.

Successful applicants are being notified electronically via the State Aid Information System (SAIS), using the email address provided in their submissions.

The full decision has been published on the Diavgeia transparency platform and is also available on the websites of the Managing Authority of the “Competitiveness” Programme (www.antagonistikotita.gr), the National Strategic Reference Framework (www.espa.gr), and the Intermediate Body (www.efepae.gr).

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