 Funding available - Brilliant Basics, Micro Small Business Fund, Wales Tourism Investment Fund
Launched as part of the new 5 year action plan, Welcome to Wales: Priorities for the Visitor Economy 2020-25, Brilliant Basics is a Wales wide £10m fund that will support public, third sector and not for profit organisations. It will -
- deliver basic small scale tourism infrastructure improvements, and
- ensure that all visitors to Wales have a positive and memorable experience throughout their stay.
This fund will build on the previous rounds of funding via the Tourism Amenity Investment Support scheme (TAIS). TAIS was launched in 2017, and supported through the Welsh Government Rural Communities Rural Development Programme 2014-2020 (RDP), funded by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD), and Welsh Government.
With the addition of non-EU funding, the scheme is being extended to those areas outside of the rural wards as part of the new Brilliant Basics. This will ensure that all parts of Wales are able to benefit from the new fund. For those projects located within the eligible wards, Brilliant Basics will continue to be part funded through the Welsh Government RDP EU Programme. Funding of up to £10m for 2020 to 2025 will be available to prioritise projects that will:
- develop quality visitor experiences with a Welsh sense of place
- enable a wide range of visitors to access and enjoy new wellbeing opportunities
- improve access to facilities and project an inclusive view of Wales
- invest in facilities that enhance Wales’ adventure offering
- contribute to key WG tourism initiatives including the Year of Outdoors campaign 2020 – 2021 and The Wales Way
- encourage clean, green destinations for example through sustainable infrastructure improvements
- proactively promote a sense of place, culture and language
- provide year-round facilities across all parts of Wales
- invest in world-class experiences and events facilities
Find out more here and submit your expressions of interest by 12 noon Friday 28 February 2020.
Micro Small Business Fund (MSBF)
The Micro Small Business Fund (MSBF) is an investment fund targeting eligible capital investment projects in the tourism sector in Wales. It can be used either to upgrade existing or create new high quality product.
Supported through the Welsh Government Rural Communities Rural Development Programme 2014-2020 and funded by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) and Welsh Government, MSBF is available for micro to small size businesses with fewer than 50 FTE employees.
Support of between £25,000 and £500,000 will be considered, in order to:
- create and safeguard jobs
- realise economic benefit and growth
- deliver quality, innovation and a sense of place.
Wales Tourism Investment Fund (WTIF)
The Welsh Government, in partnership with the Development Bank of Wales, launched the £50m Wales Tourism Investment Fund (WTIF) bringing together both commercial and grant funding into one combined package of financial support to provide capital investment for the sector.
The key objective of the Fund will be to help finance capital investment in tourism projects which have the opportunity to create positive impact on growing the sector and the Welsh economy. This fund –
- will provide patient capital to tourism businesses of between £100,000 and £5,000,000 for qualifying projects
- has repayment term of between 10-15 years, and can include seasonality payment breaks
- will provide increased flexibility of funding
- will have funding available from the outset of a project and tranched through the development phase
- will blend commercial loan and qualifying grant payments in order to reduce the overall cost of the finance.
Find out more and express your interest here.
|
