Scope of the programme

• Countries impacted: All 27 EU Member States
• Thematic axis: To mitigate the adverse effects of climate transition by supporting the most affected territories and workers concerned and to promote a balanced socio-economic transition.
• Funding programme lineage (EU, national, regional): regional. In the Irish EU JTF context, the regions and communities in the Midlands that are most affected by the transition to climate neutrality: the full counties of Laois, Westmeath, Offaly, Longford and Roscommon and the municipal districts of Ballinasloe in Galway, Carrick-on-Suir and Thurles in Tipperary, and Athy and Clane in Kildare.

Description of the project

• Project objective(s): Establishing a Low-Impact Eco-Tourism Model in Ireland
• Duration: 9 months (from October 2023 (EOI) to June 2024)
• Main activities: Capital acquisition project, the main activities were the purchase of the electric bicycles and scooters.
• Outputs: N/A

Type of application

• Single applicant: Yes
• Consortium members: N/A
• Subcontractor: No

Success Factors

• Quality of proposal: The proposal’s strong quality stemmed from Ethical Tours’s professional background in sustainable finance and project management, which enabled him to structure a clear, coherent and technically sound application fully aligned with the call’s sustainability-driven framework.
• Strategic fit with call priorities: The project demonstrated a strong strategic fit because eco-guiding tours naturally aligned with the sustainability objectives of the Just Transition Fund, particularly its focus on environmentally conscious mobility & nature-friendly tourism.
• Previous experience with funding: Ethical Tours had previous experience with the LEADER local funding programme, which helped the company understand funding processes and strengthened its application.
• Use of support ecosystems: Although no financial support was received, Ethical Tours benefited from the local support ecosystem, including access-to-market channels such as Fudge Ireland / Just Transition Ireland, which provided contextual guidance and visibility during the application process.

Barriers & Challenges

• Administrative burden: The principal hurdle for Ethical Tours was the heavy workload associated with the application process, which proved demanding for a micro-enterprise led by a single individual. The administrative burden, combined with the time-consuming nature of understanding eligibility criteria, fulfilling documentation requirements, and managing multiple steps of the funding procedure, created significant pressure.

Lessons learned

• Challenges of starting a business from scratch: Starting a business from scratch places an entrepreneur at an aspirational rather than a consolidated stage, which makes the entire funding journey significantly more challenging. Building a project while simultaneously building the business adds complexity: processes are less mature, internal structures are not yet established, and every administrative or technical requirement demands disproportionate effort. This early-stage condition increases the workload, amplifies uncertainties, and makes it harder to demonstrate the stability, track record, or operational readiness that more consolidated businesses can naturally showcase.
• Rely on the Local Support Ecosystem: A key takeaway from the Ethical Tours experience is the importance of relying on the full local support ecosystem when seeking access to funding. Local actors (such as Local Enterprise Offices or market-access channels like Fudge Ireland / Just Transition Ireland) can provide essential guidance, orientation, and visibility. Leveraging these networks helps entrepreneurs better understand funding requirements, access relevant information more quickly, and reduce the administrative burden that would otherwise fall entirely on a single individual.

This best practice illustrates how even very small tourism SMEs can successfully access EU-level funding when they align their projects with sustainability priorities and leverage local support ecosystems. Other tourism SMEs can replicate this approach by focusing on low-impact mobility, community-based partnerships, and environmentally responsible services, while using local advisory services to reduce administrative burden and enhance their competitiveness in sustainability-driven funding calls.