Programme submitted under the PRIMER pre-acceleration call, governed by Order EMT/252/2021, with expected funding from the Government of Catalonia and co-financing from the European Social Fund Plus.
PRIMER ENOTURISME is a specialised pre-acceleration programme supporting the creation of startups that provide technological, business and experience-based solutions for the Catalan wine-tourism sector. It will run from 16 January to 31 December 2026 and support 15 entrepreneurs with early-stage, high-growth-potential projects.
The programme is promoted by a partnership between the Municipal Training Institute, through the Wine Tourism School of Catalonia, and INNOVI.
Municipal Training Institute - Wine Tourism School of Catalonia: Lead organisation responsible for administration, programme preparation, communication, monitoring and evaluation. It also delivers business-management training and provides cross-cutting support to participants.
The School provides its training experience, the facilities of the historic Enològica building in Vilafranca del Penedès, a community of more than 5,000 former students and a network developed through collaboration with over 1,700 companies.
INNOVI, Catalan Wine Cluster: Responsible for training in technology, innovation and new business models, as well as specialised mentoring. INNOVI will connect the projects with wine and wine-tourism companies, potential pilot sites, technology partners and customers.
The programme will also draw on Wine Travel Observer, a database of more than 1,500 wine-tourism businesses, the Penedès micro-winery network and a digital self-assessment tool for tourism businesses.
Catalonia has an extensive and diverse wine-tourism ecosystem that includes visitor-friendly wineries, restaurants, accommodation providers, agencies, wine shops, farm shops, wine bars and cultural venues.
Wine Travel Observer has identified more than 1,500 businesses and analysed over 600 companies through 259 surveys. Its findings show that the sector has made progress in sustainability and responsibility but still has significant gaps in innovation, measurement systems and strategic digitalisation.
Many businesses lack structured tools for monitoring customers, measuring impacts and making data-driven decisions. Much of the tourism offering is still based on traditional formats, with limited use of immersive, hybrid, interactive or gamified experiences.
The value chain also remains fragmented. Wineries, restaurants, accommodation providers, agencies and specialist retailers often work independently, without shared platforms or structured joint-marketing models.
PRIMER ENOTURISME will turn these challenges into business opportunities for new companies.
The main objective is to support startups that can transform Catalan wine tourism through technology, innovation, sustainability and new business models.
The programme will help 15 entrepreneurs turn early-stage ideas into viable, scalable and market-oriented projects.
It will support the development of digital solutions and new visitor experiences, validate business models with real companies, strengthen management skills and prepare the startups to reach customers, build partnerships and access funding.
Gender equality, the Sustainable Development Goals and responsible wine-tourism principles will be incorporated throughout the programme.
The open call will target entrepreneurs with early-stage projects that include a technological or innovative component.
The selection process will prioritise or award additional points to women-led projects and balanced mixed teams.
The detailed plan provides approximately 100 hours of training per participant, structured as 108 hours of common and specialised content.
At least 60% of the training will cover technology, innovation and new business models. Between 20% and 40% will focus on business management.
Topics will include the Catalan wine-tourism market, experience design, business models, digital tools, tourism intelligence, data management, finance, taxation, funding, intellectual property, marketing, commercialisation and leadership.
The final stage will offer two eight-hour specialisations: one focused on product and technological innovation and another on distribution and commercialisation.
A total pool of 60 mentoring hours will be available. Mentors will support value-proposition development, business-model validation, prototype creation, customer identification and preparation for investment or public funding.
Startups will be able to test their solutions with businesses included in the Wine Travel Observer database and INNOVI’s ecosystem.
Alt Penedès will act as the main pilot territory, with additional collaboration expected in Priorat, Alt Empordà and Terra Alta.
Progress will be monitored through the CAC and SIAB platforms, regular meetings and collaborative digital tools.
Indicators will cover participation, business progress, pilot activities, project development and gender-disaggregated results.
The programme will train and support 15 entrepreneurs and facilitate the development of new wine-tourism products, services, platforms and experiences.
Participants are expected to complete the programme with a clearly defined value proposition, a tested business model, a prototype or pilot initiative and a plan for commercial development and funding.
The programme will also strengthen connections between startups, wineries, tourism companies, institutions, territorial stakeholders and potential investors.
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