GREEN

CORRIDOR

A living ecosystem connecting rural tourism SMEs along a Forest and Rural Heritage corridor that is geographically and culturally coherent but currently invisible to European and international visitors as a unified destination.

B2B

Through strengthened SME competitiveness, sustainability-transition support, digital visibility, route integration, and collaborative governance structures, the project creates conditions under which rural communities can participate more effectively within wider European tourism ecosystems while preserving the authenticity, slower rhythms, and place-based character that increasingly distinguish them within contemporary visitor markets. The B2B Green Corridor ecosystem additionally supports women-led entrepreneurship, inter-generational participation, artisanal production, agrotourism diversification, local food systems, and community-rooted visitor experiences that strengthen both economic resilience and social cohesion. It places emphasis on sustainability in rural industries associated with tourism via sponsorship of the EcoSeal. The project also supports an element of cascade funding (Funding Support to Third Parties) to promote the competitiveness of tourism SMEs and Destination Management Organizations.

Verified Data, Real Change for Rural Prosperity and Sustainable Tourism

The Baltic-to-Balkan Green Corridor aims not only to increase visibility of rural destinations, but also to improve direct economic outcomes for participating SMEs through longer visitor stays, increased cross-border visitor flows, diversified tourism products and stronger off-season tourism activity. As a project sponsored by the SMP COSME program, B2B Green Corridor demonstrates how sustainable tourism ecosystems can support the long-term resilience, attractiveness, and socio-economic viability of rural territories vulnerable to depopulation and youth outmigration; it moves beyond traditional destination-promotion approaches by positioning sustainable tourism as an integrated territorial-development mechanism capable of generating diversified local opportunity rooted in community identity, environmental stewardship, cultural heritage, and locally- embedded economic participation in EU-areas that are invisible to mainstream tourism.

30 Months

Bulgaria, Czechia, Estonia, Finland, Lithuania, Romania, Sweden

Regional Cluster North-East, Bulgaria

1,295,200 €

green pine trees beside river during daytime
green pine trees beside river during daytime
Green northern lights illuminate a snowy forest at night.
Green northern lights illuminate a snowy forest at night.

Route Frameworks

Strategic Overland Corridors

Northern Axis

Baltic Trailheads

Connecting Estonia, Sweden and Lithuania through low-impact rail and ferry links to diverse natural and cultural heritage sites. Baltic partners: DMO Varmland Sweden, Lithuanian Hotels & Restaurants Association, Estonian Business School, Baltic Living Lab

Central and South-East Europe

Heart of Europe

Seamless connections diverting traffic from capitals to high-potential secondary destinations and tourism along the Black Sea. Project Partners: COO Regional Cluster Bulgaria, Lesprojekt Czechia, DMO Bucovina, Romania

Less-visited destinations

From Boreal Forests to Rural Heritage

Rural communities across the eastern flank of the EU are structurally exposed to economic shocks in ways that urban and coastal tourism destinations are not. The B2B Green Corridor aligns with the EU’s Tourism Transition Pathway that identifies several priority action areas that are directly implemented. The framework as a whole — not just tourism — is anchored in the idea that sectors cannot navigate the Twin Transition individually; they need ecosystem-level coordination between large and small actors, between public and private, and across borders. This is precisely the architecture that B2BGreen Corridor espouses. The project establishes a trans-national thematic rural tourism route spanning EU rural territories from the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea.