Harghita Community Development Association

3 March 2025

On February 28, 2025, the EuroCluster Rural Tourism project, co-funded by the COSME program of the European Union, officially wrapped up. Since its launch in September 2022, the initiative has strengthened 190 rural tourism SMEs across 19 countries, boosting their competitiveness and resilience, helping them to improve their digital, green and sustainable and soft/social skills.

The Project Consortium - composed of Venetian Cluster, National Cluster Association (NCA), Euracademy Association, Ruraltour Professional, Harghita Community Development Association and the Clúster de Turismo Sostenible de Aragón as project partners, along with Ecoclub and Longarone Fiere Dolomiti as associated partners - is delighted with the remarkable results achieved. Beyond the successes, we celebrate the strong networks built among SMEs and the Assistance Service Providers who supported them throughout this journey.

The positive impact on the participating SMEs has been truly inspiring, and many of them have reported significant enhancements in their operations, as well as increased customer satisfaction and a better understanding of sustainable practices.

In Harghita County the following SMEs were supported by the EU Rural Tourism project:

The SMEs from Harghita County were supported by the experts of the Harghita Business Center - as Assistant Service Provider - in the implementation of their projects.

We would like to thank all participants, partners and stakeholders who contributed to the success of the EU Rural Tourism project. Your commitment and cooperation have greatly contributed to promoting innovation and sustainability in rural tourism in Europe.

The Consortium remains committed to become a referent on this sector, though the constitution of the EuroCluster Rural Tourism.

ABOUT THE PROJECT

The general objective of the project is to develop a basic vision, objectives and an operational structure for "rural tourism" by creating a cluster at the European level: establishing a cooperation mechanism linking regional tourism groups, professional organizations in the field rural tourism, local development agencies and transnational knowledge networks in the field of rural tourism; creating a network of at least 190 SMEs from at least 15 countries, whose members will benefit from training/upskilling in the field of digital and green transformation; creating viable transnational networks of advanced rural tourism services, whose impact will be felt in the market and which will provide a sufficient range of options for international demand. It can be expanded in the future based on general concepts, methodologies and experience gained during the project.

The project was supported by the COSME program (Programme for the Competitiveness of Enterprises and SMEs).

Project ID: 101074557

More information is available on the project's online platform: