Cultural tourism is the fastest-growing sector of European tourism and can contribute both to the sustainability and competitiveness of tourism in the European Union and beyond, as well as to the sustainable future of cultural assets, heritage sites and local communities.

Cultural Tourism products and services are important factors in sustainable development, contributing to the protection and promotion of cultural heritage, the extension of the tourism period, as well as increasing culture and heritage awareness among tourists and host communities, regional GDP and its multiplier effects.

These Awards enhance the visibility of European cultural tourism destinations, create a platform for sharing experience and knowledge and promotes networking between destinations. The Awards Contest is open to tourist destinations across Europe, to showcase their results and outputs in sustainable cultural tourism under several selected categories each year.

The Awards have been organised since 2014 by ECTN around annual themes, for the benefit of destinations, communities, associations, businesses, citizens and visitors.

The 2022 edition of the Awards for ‘Destination of Sustainable Cultural Tourism’ is organised by ECTN in partnership with Europa Nostra, the European Travel Commission and NECSTouR, supported by the European Association of Archaeologists (EAA), Interpret Europe and the ReInHerit Horizon2020 Coordination and Support Action. It follows on from the 2018 edition of the Awards which was held as a contribution to the ‘European Year of Cultural Heritage’ (EYCH2018) and the 2019, 2020 and 2021 editions, by a similar partnership that aims to contribute towards the legacy of EYCH2018 through relevant EU initiatives.
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Call for Entries

The 2022 overall theme is: ‘Relaunching European Tourism through Cultural Heritage & Digitalisation’.

The Awards will be given for achievements by cultural tourist destinations which have produced significant results related to enhancing visitor experience while respecting traditions and involving local host communities.

The 2022 Awards address the following heritage-related aspects of sustainable cultural tourism development and promotion:

Cooperation between Museums and Cultural Heritage Sites (including European Heritage Label sites), in relation to the ‘ReInHerit’ Horizon2020 CSA
Medieval Heritage and Archaeology (supported by EAA – European Association of Archaeologists)
Digitalisation in Sustainable Cultural Tourism, towards Smart Destinations
Transnational Thematic Tourism Products, including European Cultural Routes (involving at least two countries)
Promoting European Heritage to Young Visitors and Travellers (in the framework of the ‘European Year of Youth 2022’).

The applicants must address one of the above themes and present projects/initiatives that have been completed during the past 3 years. Award winners will be recognised as examples of excellence inspiring other tourist destinations and stimulating further development of sustainable cultural tourism initiatives.

Award winners will be announced at the Awards Ceremony to be held during the 15th International Conference for Cultural Tourism on the theme of ‘Relaunching European tourism through Cultural Heritage and Digitalisation’, organised by ETCN on 19-22 October 2022 in Krk, Croatia.

The selected finalists will be invited to the ECTN Conference 2022 and to the Awards Ceremony. The organiser and partners will not reimburse any costs for attending the Awards Ceremony, but the conference fee will be waived for up to two persons per finalist.

Who can apply?

The Joint Awards are open to all tourist destinations across Europe, national, regional and local authorities, tourism boards and associations, destination management organisations, museums, interpretation centres, cultural routes, festivals and cultural NGOs.

Application form, Declaration & deadline

The Application form and the required Declaration can be downloaded in Word format from website:
www.culturaltourism-network.eu/award-2022.html
Detailed instructions on how to fill in the application form are provided in the application form itself.

Please fill in all sections of the application form in English (applications in other languages will not be considered). Please sign the Declaration, scan and/or add a digital signature and send both the Application form and the Declaration together by e-mail to: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

No paper version of the application is needed – electronic submission only!Application forms without the accompanying signed Declaration or with any incomplete fields will not be eligible.

Applications must be submitted by 1 June 2022 – 17:00 CET (Central European Time) at the latest.