European Tourism Funds

European funds for San Marino tourism!

Today Minister Federico Pedini Amati signed an agreement in Brussels with the European Travel Commission and the Marche and Emilia Romagna regions to support tourism promotion projects

"A historic day, for the first time, thanks to an important team effort we won a tender co-financed by the European Union. In this international context, another thought for Mauro Maiani, the man who built the foundations of the San Marino - ETC relationship”

A  highly prestigious signature that the Minister of Tourism Federico Pedini Amati provided this morning in Brussels on the contract that regulates the accession of the Republic of San Marino to the "Horizon 2022" strategy, the strategic marketing development in the tourism sector project of the European Travel Commission, co-financed by the European Union. Together with him, at the signing table, in the symbolic city of united Europe, the Executive Director of ETC Eduardo Santander.

The European Travel Commission is an international organization to which 33 National Tourism Organizations in Europe adhere and is funded directly by the European Commission with the aim of promoting and developing promotional initiatives for the territories of the Union.

The Republic of San Marino has been a member of the ETC for years but for the first time today, thanks to a prestigious teamwork together with the Marche and Emilia Romagna Regions and also thanks to the birth in 2019 of the Territorial Table for Tourism, it is able to access a joint promotional activity program co-financed by the European Commission for the promotion of thematic trans-European tourism products and for the joint promotion of Destination Europe.

The general objectives of the program dictated by international bodies are to strengthen consumer confidence in travel and tourism during and after the Covid-19 pandemic and to build a distinctive image of Europe as a travel destination, thus helping to maintain its position as market leader while specifically, the funds destined for the Republic of San Marino will be used to support most of the communication and promotion projects linked to the Territorial Table for Tourism, i.e. the promotion of slow and outdoor tourism, of the active holiday, naturalistic and religious itineraries and wedding tourism (wedding destination).

The strategies presented largely involve the creation of online and digital campaigns, the ETC has approved the promotion of the San Marino territory through the use of tourism-influencers specifically for the Europe area, for the USA, Canada and Brazil .

The co-financing plan will make a total of 190,000 euros available for the digital development of synergistic tourism projects in San Marino, Marche and Emilia Romagna, of which 50% is funded by the European Union.

For the first time, a San Marino initiative will have the "signature" of the European Union which now, even in communication, will appear with the logos of Europe-visiteurope.com, the reference to the co-financing of the European Union and the EU emblem.

Federico Pedini Amati (Minister of Tourism): "I am really proud to have put my signature under this agreement thanks to which the Republic of San Marino will be able to receive funds from the European Travel Commission for transnational tourism development by the European Union. It is the first time that our country has managed to intercept this type of calls and I think I can say that we have opened a path. We will invest the amount allocated to us in synergistic digital and online promotion projects together with the Marche and Emilia Romagna Regions that we have involved in the project and which I sincerely thank. Allow me to thank all those who collaborated in the success of this project starting from the staff of the Ministry of Tourism and in particular Loretta Zafferani who, together with our consultants Stefano Moroncelli and Massimo Feruzzi, dialogued constructively with the European Travel Commission to make all this is possible. The collaboration with the Marche and Emilia Romagna Regions with which dialogue is always serene and constructive is important and fruitful.
Now we have a few months to ensure that the contents of the agreement signed today come to fruition, we will work hard to not disappoint the expectations that European organizations have placed in the Republic of San Marino. Allow me once again to remember Mauro Maiani, ETC’s focal point for San Marino for many years, the first to believe that our country could also benefit from the European tenders in the tourism sector".

Eduardo Santander (Executive Director European Travel Commission): "The agreement signed today with San Marino is not a simple financing agreement for a tourism promotion project, it is the most important step in a path started many years ago by my friend Mauro Maiani and made concrete thanks to the pragmatism and commitment of Minister Federico Pedini Amati and his consultants. With this signature we are sending a message to the large Countries to which we say that it is possible to concretely collaborate with small, and to the small Countries to which we say that international organizations and Europe take their needs seriously. It is not an easy time for tourism, first the pandemic, today the war in Ukraine, but even in these days of uncertainty we must look at the future with optimism, united, like San Marino, Italy with its Marche and Emilia Romagna regions, the international organizations such as the European Travel Commission and the European Union ".

Brussels, 4 March 2022