Due to COVID 19 pandemic, the tourism industry has been hit extremely hard as restrictions to international travel have caused a decline of the tourism economy at least between 45 and 70% (OCDE). While this can be seen as an unprecedented economic crisis, it also represents an opportunity to shift tendencies and to strengthen economic resilience, especially in local areas.

BLUE TOURISM project aims to equip a network of future local advisors with the necessary competences so they can support and advice small tourism providers in watercourse regions to be more sustainable and competitive, with a strategic focus on: 1. Sustainable Tourism and SDGs; 2 Ethics and Social Responsibility; 3. Natural and Cultural Heritage; 4. Competitiveness and Sustainable Local Business Development; 5. Innovation and Digital Transformation; 6. Networking and Local Partnerships. 7. Branding and Digital Marketing; 8. Internationalisation Strategy.

The project will produce the following intellectual outputs:

– Blue Tourism e-Portfolio: mapping of sustainable tourism initiatives in watercourse regions that can be used as case studies, strategies and examples of good practices.

– Package of resources and professional profile of the Blue Tourism advisor: blended training curriculum addressed to small tourism providers on sustainable tourism and local development, oriented to promote the sustainable and efficient use of natural, cultural, and economic resources in watercourse regions.

– Blue Tourism multilingual digital space, with open and instant access to training materials, including also a set of into-action videos -inspirational and awareness raising short films emerging from the different implementation phases of the project-.