Subject of the funding are:

In order to improve the competitiveness of Thuringian tourism, the following measures are supported:

• digital, future-proof and high-quality tourism investment projects that help to increase the quality of local offerings and are aimed at meeting the increasing individual needs of guests from Germany and abroad,
• investment projects for the qualification and one-time conversion of digital systems to the Thuringian Content Architecture Tourism ("ThüCAT-Start"),
• tourism marketing projects with particular supra-regional effectiveness,
• Destination development measures aimed at strengthening the competitiveness of destination management organizations (DMOs) and increasing tourism value creation in the destinations,
• Measures that support a development/reorientation of regional tourism organizations towards a sustainable, professional organizational structure and competitive DMOs.

Recipients of funding:

Recipients of funding for projects under 2.1 and 2.2 of the Guideline may be:

• Regional authorities or their associations with their own legal capacity,
• tax-privileged corporations whose non-profit status has been separately established in accordance with Section 60a of the German Tax Code (AO).

Beneficiaries of funding for projects according to 2.2 of the guidelines and projects in the sense of "ThüCAT-Start" can also be:

• Legal entities such as destination management organizations (DMOs) and regional tourism organizations and associations, societies and foundations active in the field of culture as well as municipal tourism associations.

Recipients of funding for projects under 2.3 of the guideline may be:

• Destination management organizations (DMOs) recognized as such by the ministry responsible for tourism,
• regional tourism organizations that have not yet been recognized as DMOs but are demonstrably seeking to do so or are planning an organizational merger with a recognized DMO.

Scope of Funding:

Projects according to 2.1 and 2.2 of the guideline.
The grant is awarded as project funding in the form of a non-repayable subsidy by way of partial financing from funds of the Free State of Thuringia.

• the funding rate is generally 60 percent of the eligible expenses
• in exceptional cases, a higher funding rate of up to 75 percent of the eligible expenses may be granted.
• for projects, the maximum funding per project is
  • 250,000 EUR (investment projects according to 2.1 of the guideline)
  • 100,000 EUR (marketing projects according to 2.2 of the guideline)

Projects in the sense of "ThüCAT-Start
The grant is awarded as project funding by way of fixed-amount financing in the amount of EUR 7,500 from funds of the Free State of Thuringia.

Projects according to 2.3 of the guideline (DMO)

The grant is awarded as project funding by way of fixed-amount financing. The funding rate and funding amount are based on the number of points achieved as defined by the "Points System for the Promotion of DMOs in Thuringia" in the currently valid version.

Regional tourism organizations that are not yet recognized as DMOs receive incentive funding of EUR 25,000 per year until December 31, 2022 at the latest.