Sustainability Means Business: What We’re Bringing Back to Bulgaria from StarGrowth’s Final Conference
Sustainability isn’t a slogan. It’s a business model - and in Athens, we saw what that looks like when it’s done seriously.
On 4–5 December 2025, the StarGrowth consortium gathered in Athens for the project’s final Partners Meeting and Final Conference, “Sustainability means Business: The Future of Tourism in Europe,” hosted by the Lead Partner European Profiles at Mediterranean College. The two-day closing milestone felt less like an ending and more like a handover: from project results to real-world adoption - by tourism SMEs, destinations, and the people building Europe’s next tourism economy.
As StarGrowth’s partner for Bulgaria and the project’s communication leads, National Tourism Cluster “Bulgarian Guide” joined professionals from Greece, Italy, Cyprus, Romania, and Slovenia to align on what works, what’s scalable, and what should continue beyond the project timeline.
Day 1: Partner alignment - turning results into a legacy
The final Partners Meeting was a working session in the best sense: practical, honest, and focused on impact. Partners consolidated lessons learned, discussed challenges openly, and sharpened how StarGrowth tools and methods can keep creating value after the formal project close. The shared belief in the room was simple: “final” does not mean “finished” - it means ready to scale.
Day 2: A conference that moved past slogans
At the Final Conference, sustainability was treated as a competitive advantage - not a marketing layer. The tone was set early: the future of tourism belongs to businesses that operationalize sustainability (and measure it), rather than simply communicate it.
The programme connected policy and market reality, education and culture, and - most importantly - SME implementation. Discussions explored:
- How sustainability is becoming the “language of trust” with travellers, communities, and investors,
- Why skills and culture matter as much as frameworks and compliance,
- And how rural and eco-tourism innovation often comes from many small, smart decisions - supported by the right tools and partnerships.
Bulgaria’s voice on “Smart & Sustainable” SME pathways
A key moment for us was the StarGrowth outcomes panel, “Smart & Sustainable: Innovative Pathways for Tourism SMEs,” where our Chairperson of the Management Board, Desislava Mincheva-Yordanova, represented National Tourism Cluster “Bulgarian Guide” and Bulgaria’s perspective.
The conclusion resonated strongly across countries: when SMEs are given realistic pathways - not abstract targets - sustainability becomes implementable and measurable. That is exactly where StarGrowth delivered value: translating big goals into doable steps for small businesses.
One message we’re bringing home
Leaving Athens, we carried one clear takeaway:
“The next wave of tourism growth will come from businesses that make sustainability actionable - and then scale it with digital tools, partnerships, and best-practice exchange.”
For Bulgarian tourism SMEs - especially in rural tourism and eco-tourism - this is not theory. It’s a growth strategy.
What this means for tourism SMEs in Bulgaria
Based on the Athens discussions and StarGrowth work across Europe, the winning pattern looks like this:
- Make sustainability operational: set a baseline, choose a framework, define actions, track progress.
- Use recognised tools and standards to guide the process (so it’s measurable and comparable).
- Scale with digitalisation: simplify operations, improve data, communicate transparently, and reach the right markets.
- Build partnerships: exchange best practices across regions, link businesses to support ecosystems, and learn faster together.
What’s next
As National Tourism Cluster “Bulgarian Guide,” we will keep amplifying StarGrowth results and practical tools so Bulgarian businesses can apply them - not someday, but now. Our focus remains on helping SMEs turn sustainability into competitive strength: in operations, in storytelling, and in the visitor experience.
Because the future of tourism in Europe will not be led by the loudest promises - but by the businesses that can prove real change.