As hoteliers in Europe look forward to what could hopefully be a positive summer season – albeit led by their domestic market – we round up the funding options available to help you get your business back up and running and, hopefully, heading back towards profitability.
Czech Republic
A Digital Enterprise scheme has been set up to support the digitization of small and medium sized businesses (up to 249 employees). The ICT and Shared Services program is offering up to CZK 10 million to support investment in
- Digital transformation
- In-house connectivity
- Cyber security
- ERP, operating systems, software and hardware
The subsidy includes investment in servers, more advanced HW and SW, AI-based systems, augmented reality, and also robots or QR readers.
France
The French government has created a web portal offering assistance for all tourism businesses affected by COVID-19. The
Plan Relance Tourisme offers financing and equity, with special measures available for entrepreneurs and start-ups.
Germany
The Federal Ministry of Economics is now offering its third round of Bridging Aid to businesses that have achieved at least 30 percent less turnover in comparison to 2019 figures. Up to €200,000 per month is available to help towards fixed costs. Applications for this non-repayable grant are open up until August 31, 2021.
Companies that have been particularly hard hit by the pandemic can also apply for a new, additional equity grant to strengthen their assets. To do this, they have to prove that their sales fell by 50% or more in at least three months between November 2020 and June 2021 compared to the same months of 2019.
Germany, Austria and Switzerland
In the DACH region, business hotels and industry suppliers, including Duetto, have come together to create a crowd-funding campaign to target business travel.
25hours Hotels, ACCOR Northern Europe, Motel One and Vienna House, in cooperation with the Hamburg agency Wynken Blynken & Nod, have come together to create the #welcomeNOThome campaign concept.
The aim is to highlight the many ways in which business travelers and frequent travels have their own quirks and habits when on the road, and to provide hotels with a campaign toolbox to effectively communicate with them to drive more business.
A budget of €350,000 has been set, which is being raised through crowd funding, and to which Duetto is proud to have participated.
Promotion will start in September, with a media campaign on all relevant channels. Participating hotels will also be provided with a host of images, videos, graphics and copy to help drive this campaign.
Italy
Italy’s state lender Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP) has created a National Tourism Fund to invest up to €2 billion euros in the hotel sector.
The CDP has pledged to invest €750 million in hotels deemed to be of historic interest, while Italy’s tourism ministry will contribute a further €150 million. Other investors will make up the rest.
The fund will promote investments to improve quality and innovation in Italy’s hotels.
United Kingdom
The UK Government announced on June 14 a further 4-week delay to the lifting of COVID restrictions across the country. Social distancing remains in place until July 19 at the earliest. This further extension has been seen as a blow to the hospitality sector. But government help is available to those who qualify.
Restart Grants – Rate-paying hospitality businesses in England can apply for a one-off grant of £18,000 from their local council. The business must be trading as of April 1, 2021, to qualify.
The UK is also offering a Subsidy Allowance scheme, which includes:
Small Amounts of Financial Assistance Allowance – up to £335,000 over any period of 3 years
COVID-19 Business Grant Allowance – up to £1,600,000
COVID-19 Business Grant Special Allowance – for businesses that have already reached the limits under the Small Amounts of Financial Assistance Allowance and COVID-19 Business Grant Allowance a further allowance of up to 9,000,000, could be available provided conditions are met.
Europe-wide
The European Union is offering a number of stimulus packages.
NextGenerationEU is a €750 billion temporary recovery instrument to help repair the immediate economic and social damage brought about by the pandemic. The aim is to help European businesses emerge from the pandemic greener, more digital, and more resilient.
NextGenerationEU includes a €672.5 billion Loans and Grants Recovery & Resilience Facility specifically aimed at green and digital transitions.
In total, the EU is making €1.8 trillion available to help re-build a post-COVID Europe.
HSMAI Foundation COVID Relief Fund
The Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association International (HSMAI) Foundation is supporting the hospitality industry by distributing more than $130,000 in HSMAI Foundation COVID Relief Fund grants to more than 260 hospitality professionals around the world.
The fund provides HSMAI membership and educational grants for HSMAI programs to members and non-member industry professionals in need due to challenging circumstances related to the global pandemic