The Awards scheme was launched during the European Year of Cultural Heritage 2018 and seeks to contribute to its legacy. For the sixth year in a row, Europa Nostra has strengthened its partnership with the European Cultural Tourism Network (ECTN), the European Travel Commission (ETC) and the Network of European Regions for Competitive and Sustainable Tourism (NECSTouR) to encourage the development of sustainable cultural tourism practices in European destinations.

Applications are open to all tourist destinations across Europe, national, regional and local authorities, tourism boards and associations, destination management organizations, museums, interpretation centers, cultural routes, festivals and cultural NGOs.

The applicants are invited to showcase results concerning sustainable cultural tourism, under one of the following 6 categories:

1. Digitalisation advances and digital transition in Sustainable Cultural Tourism

2. History and Heritage

3. Riverside heritage

4. Transnational Thematic Tourism Products, including European Cultural Routes (involving at least 2 European countries, not necessarily neighbouring)

5. Religious, Pilgrimage and Spiritual Tourism

6. Traditional Skills, Crafts and Creativity (for the occasion of the European Year of Skills 2023)

The applicants must address one of the above-mentioned themes and present projects/initiatives that have been completed in the past 3 years.

The deadline for applications is 1 June 2023.

For more information about the Awards and how to apply, please visit the ECTN website, where you can download the Call for Entries and the Application and Declaration Forms.

The winners of the Destination of Sustainable Cultural Tourism Awards 2023 will be announced during the International Conference for Cultural Tourism organised by ECTN on 18-21 October 2023 in Pafos (Cyprus), as an acknowledgment of the award as “European Capital of Smart Tourism 2023”.