Holiday industry

Sicily, call for tourism: applications for over a billion

2,713 applications received for the 135 million notice of the 2021-2027 Development and Cohesion Fund. From 'de minimis' to large exemption projects, the hospitality sector confirms its strategic weight for the island's economy

by Nino Amadore

4 March 2026

3' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

Key points

Applications for one billion, resources for 135 million
Who can access and for which interventions
The challenge of time and quality

3' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

It is a sign of attention and vitality in a strategic sector for the Sicilian economy. This is how one can interpret the figure of applications for contributions amounting to over one billion euros in the tourism sector. This is in fact the total value of the applications received by Irfis FinSicilia at the close of the notice issued by the Regional Department of Tourism for investments in accommodation facilities.

By the deadline of 28 February, 2,713 applications had been received for a total amount of nearly EUR 1.1 billion: 2,108 applications concerned interventions under the 'de minimis' regime, for a total of EUR 474 million, while 605 applications were under the 'exemption' regime, with declared investments amounting to EUR 624 million. Numbers that tell, even before the rankings, a widespread ferment in the sector.

Applications for one billion, resources for 135 million

However, the financial availability of the notice is EUR 135 million from the 2021-2027 Development and Cohesion Fund. A clear gap compared to the volume of applications submitted, which now opens the crucial phase of project evaluation.

The selection will take place through a ranking procedure, divided into two distinct aid schemes - 'de minimis' and 'exempt' - each with its own thresholds and contribution intensities. The subsidies, inclusive of non-repayable funds, will vary from a minimum of EUR 50,000 up to a maximum of EUR 3.5 million per individual application.

The political fact is already clear. 'The measure we have put in place has aroused great interest,' emphasises the President of the Sicilian Region, Renato Schifani, 'and this is demonstrated by the value of the investment requests received from so many operators, many of which are also large. For my government, tourism represents a strategic sector for the development of our economy, and the response obtained from this notice confirms the appeal that Sicily exerts towards businesses in the sector'.

Who can access and for which interventions

The call is aimed at micro, small, medium and large enterprises based on the island: hotels, bed and breakfasts, hostels, campsites, tourist villages, holiday homes, refuges and associated structures, including business networks and cooperatives. The interventions that can be financed concern the renovation, expansion or reactivation of existing structures, but also the creation of new activities through the recovery or conversion of buildings. A lever, therefore, not only for the qualitative adjustment of the offer, but also for the regeneration of the existing building stock. A point, this, that is not secondary. In fact, the call for bids establishes that investments may not entail an increase in cubage with respect to what is envisaged by the regulations and building codes in force. In any case, no consumption of new land is allowed. A choice that tries to combine tourist development and territorial sustainability, an increasingly central theme in an island that thrives on its landscape, coastline and historic centres.

The challenge of time and quality

From the moment the financing specification is granted, companies will have 24 months to implement the interventions. This, too, will be a test: the ability to transform applications into construction sites, and construction sites into competitive structures, will make the difference between a seized opportunity and a mere statistical snapshot. For now, the figure that emerges is that of a sector that invests and tries to grow. It remains to be seen which projects will make it through the selection process and to what extent the available resources will be able to intercept the demand expressed. But the billion euro put down on paper by the operators already tells us something: tourism in Sicily is a terrain on which businesses are ready to bet.