wales tourism investment fund (wtif)

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Wales Tourism Investment Fund (WTIF)

The Welsh Government, in partnership with the Development Bank of Wales , has launched a new £50m fund, Wales Tourism Investment Fund (WTIF) which brings together both commercial and grant funding into one combined package of financial support to provide capital investment for the sector.    

Fund objectives  

In order to maintain and develop Wales’ position in the hugely competitive global tourism market, we need to continue to invest in our tourism product. The key objective of the Fund will be to help finance capital investment in tourism projects which have the opportunity to create positive impact on growing the sector and the Welsh economy.  

Purpose of fund  

• To provide continued access to finance for tourism projects in Wales  
• To support the transition of the tourism sector from grant reliance to commercial loan serviceability  
• Allow public funding to be mobilised in an area that can create significant impact on the economy  
• To be able to support potentially substantial strategic investments as required.  

What will it fund?  

• The new fund will provide patient capital to tourism businesses of between £100,000 and £5,000,000 for qualifying projects  
• Repayment term is between 10-15 years, and can include seasonality payment breaks  
• It will provide increased flexibility of funding  
• Funding will be made available from the outset of a project and tranched through the development phase  
• Commercial loan and qualifying grant payments will be blended in order to reduce the overall cost of the finance.  

Who is eligible?  

The fund comprises a mix of repayable and non-repayable finance, targeting eligible capital investment projects in the tourism sector in Wales. It can be used either to upgrade existing, or create new, high quality assets in the tourism sector.  

In order to be considered for support from the Wales Tourism Investment Fund an applicant will need to:  

• Commit to supporting the Welsh Government’s Prosperity for All strategy and demonstrate a commitment to the four requirements of the Economic Contract  
• Be based in Wales and demonstrate how the project will stimulate growth in new and existing markets and create and/or safeguard jobs  
• Demonstrate financial viability and repayment over the term of the funding package.  

Next Steps  

The fund includes a two stage application process. The first stage includes an Expression of Interest form and if successful at this stage, the business will then be invited to make a full application.  Frequently Asked Questions  are also available.    

If you are interested in receiving more information on the WTIF, please email  [email protected]  or call 0845 010 8020.  

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Exciting new vision for Welsh visitor economy

Gweledigaeth gyffrous newydd ar gyfer economi ymwelwyr cymru.

First Minister Mark Drakeford and Deputy Minister for Tourism Lord Elis-Thomas will today unveil an exciting future for the visitor economy in Wales.

The Welsh Government will publish its five-year plan to grow the visitor economy, focusing on Wales’ strengths – its landscapes, culture and places.

The new plan – Welcome to Wales: Priorities for the Visitor Economy 2020-25 – will be backed by two funds to support the industry: A new £10m fund - Brilliant Basics to support the all-important tourism infrastructure which will complement the £50m Wales Tourism Investment Fund focusing on high-quality, reputation-changing products.

Welcome to Wales and the new funding will help to tackle some of the main challenges facing the tourism industry in Wales – seasonality, spend and spread.

Launching the new vision today in Porthcawl, First Minister Mark Drakeford said:

“Over the past decade, tourism in Wales has been transformed, but there’s room for further growth in our visitor economy and we want to support that. 

 “Our new plan, with its priorities, strike the right balance between economic growth and our wider wellbeing as a country. We want to develop high-quality, year-round experiences, which are good for visitors and host communities. Sustainable growth can deliver health, environmental and cultural benefits by protecting and promoting our strengths.

“There are challenges facing the industry, including from Brexit. We believe the best response is to continue with our core business – to recognise tourism’s ongoing potential to act as a bedrock for the Welsh economy in projecting a positive message of and from Wales.”

Welcome to Wales highlights two main ideas of ‘Bro’ and ‘Byd’ – getting tourism right at a local level and ensuring the Welsh tourism offer can compete on the international stage.

The main actions over the next five years include:

• A £10m fund to invest in Brilliant Basics to support the all-important tourism infrastructure, which is part of delivering a high quality visitor experience from 2020-25.
• A focus on high quality, reputation-changing products. A £50m Wales Tourism Investment Fund – delivered in partnership with the Development Bank of Wales – to help finance reputation capital investment projects.
• Building on the success of the Events strategy, Event Wales will be set up to develop, grow and attract cultural, business and sporting events. This recognises the vital all-year role events play in attracting people to Wales.
• Visit Wales will focus on products and on developing experiences, which reflect Wales’ stand-out strengths as a country.
• Visit Wales will focus more of marketing efforts on growing off-peak tourism, encouraging people to spend more in Wales and spread the benefit of tourism.
• Two new themed years will be announced for 2022 and 2024.

Nearly one in 10 people across Wales works in tourism, which brings jobs to people throughout Wales. Tourism is on track to meet the 10% growth target set seven years ago – Wales has welcomed record numbers of UK visitors over the last five years and the value of domestic tourism grew by 14% last year.

Lord Elis-Thomas, Deputy Minister for Culture Sport and Tourism, said: 

“We want to build on our recent success and by 2025 we want to be known as a place that offers world-leading adventure, creative culture and language and outstanding, protected landscapes – and a place that wants to look after them for future generations.

“I’d like to thank the industry for the part it has played in developing this new plan and its priorities. 

“It has been very clear that the long-term growth of our own sector relies on caring for the things that attract people here in the first place. It is also what future markets will expect.”

Notes to editors

Dropbox – including:

• short form plan of Welcome to Wales: Priorities for the Visitor Economy 2020-25
• Images from the plan
• Year of Outdoors campaign film

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/yhpfep68ey153ea/AACgRn-zJyh06fw7huE2FVIxa?dl=0

The full plan and supporting documents will be available on https://businesswales.gov.wales/tourism/  following the launch.

The launch takes place at the newly opened, Rest Bay Watersports Centre, Porthcawl which is part of  Visit Wales’ Tourism Attractor Destination programme, supported by £2.55m of EU and Welsh Government funding.  Joining the First Minister and Deputy Minister for Tourism will be members of the industry which will also take part in a panel discussion led by adventurer and presenter Lowri Morgan.  The Panel includes: Ben Clifford – Surfability; Paula Ellis - Retreats Group; Tracey Evans – Outdoor Partnership; Andrew Campbell  - Wales Tourism Alliance and Huw Stephens – presenter and DJ

Supportive comments  - Launch Panel members

Paula Ellis – General Manager, Retreats Group : “Wales has immense potential to be recognised as a world class destination. We need to capitalise on our unique sense of place, language and culture, combined with more quality products to raise our profile on a truly international stage. Our success at Retreats Group is attributed to treating our colleagues as our internal guests which has enabled us to address the skills gap in the most challenging of locations. Every guest is be perceived as a PR agent to help us promote the ‘Croeso Cynnes Cymreig’ of this unique Celtic country.”

Tracey Evans – Outdoor Partnership : “Wales is full of opportunities for tourists as well as local people to safely enjoy our great outdoors for health and economic advantages as well as enhancing and supporting the unique culture and history of Wales.” 

Ben Clifford – Surfability, said : “Wales is incredible — all this green and blue space —  and if you’re denied access to that because of a disability,  it’s such a shame. So it’s important that we make those spaces accessible to everyone. Surfing is great physical exercise, and it really connects you to the world around you and the environment. Being present and focused in the moment, while simultaneously being outdoors in the fresh air and exercising — the benefits are incredible.  The techniques we’ve developed in Wales are becoming part of the worldwide standard. Our own community benefits, too. Our volunteers get the chance to work with people in their community, making it a better place.”

Andrew Campbell, Wales Tourism Alliance , said: “Effective engagement between the private and public sectors is hugely important. Success depends on partnership and collaboration, so we need to forge relationships that make the best possible use of resources. The objectives of any priorities plan will be better achieved if we all collaborate closely. We’re all on the same journey together. We need to work in a greener and more environmentally efficient way, but sustainability also means sustaining communities. Tourism creates jobs in places that other industries don’t. This sector deserves to be taken seriously.”

Main aspects of the plan

Outstanding visitor experiences

• A £10m fund has been announced today to invest in Brilliant Basics to support the all-important tourism infrastructure which is part of delivering a high quality visitor experience.  This funding will also be used to ensure that Wales is an inclusive and accessible destination for all.
• Visit Wales will work with the industry to support an industry led Tourism Skills Partnership to explore a range of ways to raise status of the sector to future generations of workers.

World Class Products and places

• A £50m Wales Tourism Investment Fund (WTIF) – delivered in partnership with the Development Bank of Wales – will help finance reputation capital investment projects.
• In recognition of the vital role events play in in attracting people to Wales and building on the success of our Events Strategy we will establish Event Wales to also encompass business events.  An ‘Event Wales’ conference in the spring of 2020 will be an opportunity to engage further with the sector, in order to help shape the future and take account of an ongoing independent review of the events criteria
• Visit Wales will move to focus on products and on developing experiences that reflect Wales’s stand-out strengths as a country - these are Outstanding Natural Landscapes, Creative Culture and Epic Adventure.  Initially the focus will be on the Wales Coast Path, Offa’s Dyke and National Trails; Golf; Heritage Tourism and Film and TV; Mountain Biking and Cycling.

An Innovative Cymru Wales Brand

• We will continue to deliver a bold and integrated brand for Wales, harnessing tourism’s potential to present Wales to the world as a welcoming, vibrant destination.
• Visit Wales will commit resources to ensuring that digital first marketing efforts are focused on growing off-peak tourism, encouraging people to spend more in Wales and is spreading the benefit of tourism and tackling over-tourism by inspiring visitors to discover more of Wales.
• Visit Wales will launch a major new campaign for Wales for the next 3–5 years and announce new themed years for 2022 and 2024.

An engaged and vibrant sector 

We will recognise, coordinate and harness the contribution a wide range of partners can make.

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Tourism investment funds open – proposals invited

Proposals are being invited from the tourism industry for the next round of tourism investment funds, in support of Wales’ thematic years.

This was published under the 2016 to 2021 administration of the Welsh Government

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Visit Wales is looking for big idea projects which can make a real difference in making Wales a must visit destination.

The Tourism Product Innovation Fund (TPIF) and Regional Tourism Engagement Fund (RTEF) will help the private and public sector work together to develop and deliver innovative destination and product led initiatives that align with the Year of Discovery for 2019 and future thematic years; that reflect all or any of the three key themes for promoting tourism to Wales - adventure, culture and the outdoors. Support will also be available for projects that align with The Wales Way initiative.

For the Year of Discovery the emphasis is on the experiences that people can have in Wales and inviting visitors to explore and discover what makes us uniquely Wales.

Wales’ Year of Discovery will encourage our visitors to discover a new place a new experience or product, a sense of place through language, culture and a local history.

The Swansea Bay Surfari Bus Campaign was funded through the last round of RTEF funding and resulted in hundreds of visitors sampling the delights of Swansea Bay close-up thanks to a 4-week VW Camper Van ‘Surfari’ of Wales and Ireland.

The Surfari Bus embarked on a tour of Wales at the height of the August holiday season, covering 11 destinations in and around Swansea Bay as well as 7 stops in 7 days along the Wales Way. Popular destinations included Brecon, Portmeirion and Llandudno. The final Surfari Bus stops were two busy shopping centres in Dublin and Kilkenny, Ireland.

The journey helped promote Swansea Bay’s ‘Year of the Sea’ destination marketing campaign achieving coverage in local media along the way and securing several visits by journalists and bloggers this autumn.

Robert Francis-Davies, Cabinet Member for Innovation, Regeneration and Tourism, said the summer Surfari campaign was a unique opportunity to introduce families already on holiday to even more things to see and do in Swansea Bay and those further afield to taking a holiday or short break.

He said: 

“While our team were taking the show on the road, it was the support of Swansea, Mumbles and Gower tourism businesses that made it such a success. “They enthusiastically supported us by providing free activities and offering competition prizes so that visitors to the Surfari Bus had the chance to come and sample activities in Swansea Bay for themselves.”

Minister for Culture, Tourism and Sport, Lord Elis-Thomas, said: 

“Over the last 3 years, we’ve seen how this revenue funding has enabled the industry to come to together, work in partnership and deliver projects which have greater impact in a very competitive market-place. As we now turn our focus to Year of Discovery we would like to see even bigger ideas and strategic partnerships developing. We will be prioritising our investment in proposals that evidence genuine regional collaboration and are able to promote the commitment to inclusive growth set out in our Economic Action Plan.” “Adventure, culture and landscape represent Wales’s core strengths and areas where we believe Wales can be truly competitive. We want to return to them, and The Year of Discovery and future years will look to and strengthen these core themes.”

Both the Tourism Product Innovation Fund (TPIF) and Regional Tourism Engagement Fund (RTEF) are supported through the Welsh Government Rural Communities Rural Development Programme 2014-2020, funded by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD), and Welsh Government.

First published

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Showcasing the Best of Welsh Business

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Rising Tourism Demand in Wales Met with £15 Million Economic Stimulus

Economïau lleol a gwledig cymru yn elwa ar £15 miliwn wrth i’r galw am gyllid y sector twristiaeth barhau i gynyddu.

Nine tourism projects have secured over £3million from the Development Bank of Wales in the first half of 2023/24 from the dedicated Wales Tourism Investment Fund as demand for funding gains momentum post Covid-19.

Since its launch in 2020, the Wales Tourism Investment Fund has supported 17 different companies with £15.3 million made up of £13.81 million in loans and £1.1 million grant funding from Visit Wales. Co-investment is £6.7 million.

Launched specifically to support stand-out tourism projects that add value to the rural and local economies of Wales, the Wales Tourism Investment Fund offers loans between £100,000 and £5 million with up to 15 years payback terms.

John McGee, Innoflate; Clare Sullivan, Development Bank of Wales

Dawn Bowden, Deputy Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism said: 

“ Tourism is an economic, social and cultural asset which is why we want to grow tourism for the good of Wales. This means creating a first-class holiday experience that delivers real benefits for people and places with attractions and accommodation that meet the needs of visitors and locals alike. “I’m delighted that the collaborative approach by the Development Bank of Wales and Visit Wales is enabling more tourism businesses to get the funding that they need to invest in new and existing projects that are helping to put Wales on the map.”

Those who have benefitted to date include Penderyn Distillery and Tenby Golf Club along with Innoflate, Wales’s first intergenerational park that has opened at Newport Retail Park on Seven Stiles Avenue in Newport. 27 FTE jobs have been created and 100,000 visitors a year are expected following a loan of £350,000 from the Development Bank alongside an £80,000 grant from Visit Wales.

John McGee is Chair of Innoflate. He said:

“With six sites in Scotland, we’re excited to be entering the Welsh marketplace with the next generation in inflatables. We’re working with the community, schools, charities and local authorities to create a destination with facilities that nurture physical and mental well-being. “The joined-up approach between Welsh Government and the Development Bank has made the investment in Wales an attractive proposition, part-funding our set-up costs so that we could get up and running.”

With five young children, outdoor lovers Chloe and Neal Priestley are living their dream having opened Grassroots Caravan and Glamping in rural Waterston near Milford Haven. The 4.2 acre site has been purchased with a £205,000 loan from the Development Bank . A mix of hard-standing and grass pitches are available with on-site facilities.

Chloe and Neal Priestley said:

“We’re keen travellers and love to explore the world but have realised over the years how beautiful our home county is and what is has to offer. It was a long eight months of solid graft to get our dream across the line but with the help of the Development Bank , we have finally done it. Our mission for this campsite is to make sure that visitors of all ages have an affordable stay with us and enjoy our surrounding countryside.”

Other projects to benefit from funding include the soon to open Dylan’s restaurant in Conwy with a loan of £308,000 and a grant of £77,000, creating a restaurant and bar area on High Street with seating for 150 guests. The new site is in addition to three existing restaurants in Menai Bridge, Criccieth and Llandundo and retail outlets in Conwy and Menai Bridge.

Directors Robin Hodgson and David Evans are proud to have been named as the Welsh Food and Drink Champions at the Wales Food and Drink Awards 2023.

David said:

“North Wales is a global tourist destination and we’ve got a vibrant high street here in Conwy. As the Welsh Food and Drink Champions for 2023, we’re delighted to be the custodians of this wonderful building and to safeguard it for many years to come, selling local produce and hosting events for locals and visitors alike to enjoy. “The funding from the Development Bank means that we’ve now been able to open our fourth restaurant and continue our mission of celebrating the local produce, character and natural beauty of North Wales.”

Named by the Independent as ‘one of the coolest new UK hotels’, the Elan Valley Hotel in Rhayader has undergone a refurbishment funded by a loan of £200,000 from the Development Bank . Married couple, Lyn and Rachel Morgan bought the hotel via their existing business, Lyn Morgan Furnishings. They’ve now renovated the bedrooms, creating a 60-seat restaurant, added solar panels and integrated Lyn Morgan Furnishings bespoke sofas and chairs.

Director Lyn Morgan said:

“The Elan Valley is a must visit destination and we’re in the perfect location to access all the many attractions in this area of outstanding beauty. The funding from the Development Bank means that we’ve been able to complete the refurbishment and breathe new life into this beautiful hotel, attracting more visitors to our local area.”

Clare Sullivan is a Regional Manager with the Development Bank . She said:

“The tourism sector is getting back on track post Covid and we’re definitely on an upwards trajectory with this bespoke fund able to meet demand from the sector. Our ability to also offer grants alongside loans means that more businesses can benefit and we’re supporting the transition of the tourism sector from grant reliance to a commercial basis. “The flexibility of the fund means that we can support specific projects that will benefit our local and rural economies by mobilising public money where it can make a real difference and add to the tourism facilities that Wales has to offer. This means that strategic investments like Penderyn Distillery can access a funding package that enables them to make a significant contribution to Wales’s reputation as a vibrant and must-visit destination while smaller projects like the development of Tenby Golf Club have a real benefit for local and rural economies. It’s all about adding value and doing what we can to put Wales on the global tourism map. The message is simple – if you want to invest in the tourism sector in Wales then come and talk to us.”

The £50 million Wales Tourism Investment Fund is financed entirely by Welsh Government. Loans between £100,000 and £5 million are available with repayment terms of 10 – 15 years for distinctive, stand-out tourism projects that align with the priorities of Welsh Government, demonstrating commitment to the Economic Contract.

Mae naw prosiect twristiaeth wedi sicrhau dros £3 miliwn gan Fanc Datblygu Cymru yn ystod hanner cyntaf 2023/24 o Gronfa Buddsoddi mewn Twristiaeth Cymru wrth i’r galw am gyllid ennill momentwm ar ôl Covid-19.

Ers ei lansio yn 2020, mae Cronfa Buddsoddi mewn Twristiaeth Cymru wedi cefnogi 17 o wahanol gwmnïau, gyda £15.3 miliwn yn cynnwys £13.81 miliwn mewn benthyciadau, £1.1 miliwn o gyllid grant gan Croeso Cymru a chydfuddsoddiad o £6.7 miliwn.

Mae Cronfa Buddsoddi mewn Twristiaeth Cymru, sydd wedi’i lansio’n benodol i gefnogi prosiectau twristiaeth unigryw sy’n ychwanegu gwerth at economïau gwledig a lleol Cymru, yn cynnig benthyciadau rhwng £100,000 a £5 miliwn gyda chyfnodau ad-dalu o hyd at 15 mlynedd.

Dywedodd Dawn Bowden, Dirprwy Weinidog y Celfyddydau, Chwaraeon a Thwristiaeth:

“Mae twristiaeth yn ased economaidd, cymdeithasol a diwylliannol a dyna pam ein bod am dyfu twristiaeth er lles Cymru. Mae hyn yn golygu creu profiad gwyliau o’r radd flaenaf sy’n dod â manteision gwirioneddol i bobl a llefydd gydag atyniadau a llety sy’n diwallu anghenion ymwelwyr a phobl leol fel ei gilydd. “Rwy’n falch iawn bod y dull cydweithredol gan Fanc Datblygu Cymru a Croeso Cymru yn galluogi mwy o fusnesau twristiaeth i gael y cyllid sydd ei angen arnynt i fuddsoddi mewn prosiectau newydd a phresennol sy’n helpu i roi Cymru ar y map.”

Ymhlith y rhai sydd wedi elwa hyd yma mae Distyllfa Penderyn a Chlwb Golff Dinbych-y-pysgod ynghyd ag Innoflate, parc pontio’r cenedlaethau cyntaf Cymru sydd wedi agor ym Mharc Manwerthu Casnewydd ar Seven Stiles Avenue yng Nghasnewydd. Mae 27 o swyddi cyfwerth ag amser llawn wedi cael eu creu a disgwylir 100,000 o ymwelwyr y flwyddyn yn dilyn benthyciad o £350,000 gan y Banc Datblygu ochr yn ochr â grant o £80,000 gan Croeso Cymru. John McGee yw Cadeirydd Innoflate.

“Mae gennym ni chwe safle yn yr Alban ac rydyn ni’n edrych ymlaen at ymuno â marchnad Cymru gyda’r genhedlaeth nesaf o weithgareddau gwynt. Rydyn ni’n gweithio gyda’r gymuned, ysgolion, elusennau ac awdurdodau lleol i greu cyrchfan gyda chyfleusterau sy’n meithrin llesiant corfforol a meddyliol. “Mae’r dull gweithredu cydgysylltiedig rhwng Llywodraeth Cymru a’r Banc Datblygu wedi gwneud y buddsoddiad yng Nghymru yn gynnig deniadol, gan ariannu ein costau sefydlu yn rhannol er mwyn i ni allu dechrau arni.”

Gyda phum plentyn ifanc, mae Chloe a Neal Priestley sydd wrth eu bodd â’r awyr agored yn gwireddu eu breuddwyd ar ôl agor safle Carafanio a Glampio gwledig Grassroots yn Waterston ger Aberdaugleddau. Prynwyd y safle 4.2 erw gyda benthyciad o £205,000 gan y Banc Datblygu. Mae cymysgedd o leiniau caled a lleiniau glaswellt ar gael gyda chyfleusterau ar y safle.

Dywedodd Chloe a Neal Priestley:

“Rydyn ni’n deithwyr brwd ac wrth ein bodd yn crwydro’r byd ond rydyn ni wedi sylweddoli dros y blynyddoedd pa mor hardd yw bro ein mebyd a’r hyn sydd ganddo i’w gynnig. Roedd hi’n wyth mis hir o galedi i wireddu ein breuddwyd, ond gyda chymorth y Banc Datblygu, rydyn ni wedi gwneud hynny o’r diwedd. Ein cenhadaeth ar gyfer y maes gwersylla hwn yw gwneud yn siŵr bod ymwelwyr o bob oed yn cael arhosiad fforddiadwy gyda ni ac yn mwynhau’r cefn gwlad o’n cwmpas.”

Mae’r prosiectau eraill a fydd yn elwa o’r cyllid yn cynnwys y bwyty Dylan’s sydd ar fin agor yng Nghonwy gyda benthyciad o £308,000 a grant o £77,000, gan greu bwyty a bar ar y Stryd Fawr gyda seddi ar gyfer 150 o westeion. Mae’r safle newydd yn ychwanegol at dri bwyty presennol ym Mhorthaethwy, Cricieth a Llandudno a siopau manwerthu yng Nghonwy a Phorthaethwy.

Mae’r Cyfarwyddwyr Robin Hodgson a David Evans yn falch o fod wedi cael eu henwi’n Hyrwyddwyr Bwyd a Diod Cymru yng Ngwobrau Bwyd a Diod Cymru 2023.

Dywedodd David:

“Mae Gogledd Cymru yn gyrchfan i dwristiaid yn fyd-eang ac mae gennym stryd fawr fywiog yma yng Nghonwy. Fel Hyrwyddwyr Bwyd a Diod Cymru ar gyfer 2023, rydyn ni’n falch iawn o fod yn geidwaid yr adeilad gwych hwn ac o’i ddiogelu am flynyddoedd i ddod, gan werthu cynnyrch lleol a chynnal digwyddiadau i bobl leol ac ymwelwyr eu mwynhau. “Mae’r cyllid gan y Banc Datblygu yn golygu ein bod wedi gallu agor ein pedwerydd bwyty a pharhau â’n cenhadaeth o ddathlu cynnyrch lleol, cymeriad a harddwch naturiol Gogledd Cymru.”

Mae Gwesty Cwm Elan yn Rhaeadr Gwy, sydd wedi’i enwi gan yr Independent fel ‘un o’r gwestai mwyaf cŵl yn y DU’, wedi cael ei adnewyddu gyda benthyciad o £200,000 gan y Banc Datblygu. Prynodd y cwpl priod, Lyn a Rachel Morgan, y gwesty drwy eu busnes presennol, Lyn Morgan Furnishings. Maen nhw bellach wedi adnewyddu’r ystafelloedd gwely, gan greu bwyty ar gyfer 60 o bobl, wedi ychwanegu paneli solar ac wedi integreiddio soffas a chadeiriau pwrpasol Lyn Morgan Furnishings.

Dywedodd y Cyfarwyddwr Lyn Morgan:

“Mae Cwm Elan yn gyrchfan y mae’n rhaid ymweld ag ef ac rydyn ni yn y lleoliad perffaith i gael mynediad at yr holl atyniadau yn yr ardal hon o harddwch eithriadol. Mae’r cyllid gan y Banc Datblygu yn golygu ein bod wedi gallu cwblhau’r gwaith adnewyddu ac anadlu bywyd newydd i’r gwesty hyfryd hwn, gan ddenu mwy o ymwelwyr i’n hardal leol.”

Mae Clare Sullivan yn Rheolwr Rhanbarthol gyda’r Banc Datblygu.

“Mae’r sector twristiaeth yn ôl ar y trywydd iawn ar ôl Covid ac rydyn ni’n bendant yn mynd o nerth i nerth gyda’r gronfa bwrpasol hon yn gallu ateb y galw gan y sector. Mae ein gallu i gynnig grantiau ochr yn ochr â benthyciadau hefyd yn golygu bod mwy o fusnesau’n gallu elwa ac rydyn ni’n cefnogi’r broses o drosglwyddo’r sector twristiaeth o fod yn ddibynnol ar grantiau i fod yn fasnachol. “Mae hyblygrwydd y gronfa’n golygu y gallwn gefnogi prosiectau penodol a fydd o fudd i’n heconomïau lleol a gwledig drwy ddefnyddio arian cyhoeddus lle gall wneud gwahaniaeth go iawn ac ychwanegu at y cyfleusterau twristiaeth sydd gan Gymru i’w cynnig. Mae hyn yn golygu y gall buddsoddiadau strategol fel Distyllfa Penderyn gael gafael ar becyn cyllido sy’n eu galluogi i wneud cyfraniad sylweddol at enw da Cymru fel cyrchfan bywiog y mae’n rhaid ymweld ag ef tra bod prosiectau llai fel datblygiad Clwb Golff Dinbych-y-pysgod o fudd gwirioneddol i economïau lleol a gwledig. Mae’n ymwneud ag ychwanegu gwerth a gwneud popeth o fewn ein gallu i roi Cymru ar y map twristiaeth byd-eang. Mae’r neges yn syml – os ydych chi eisiau buddsoddi yn y sector twristiaeth yng Nghymru, dewch i siarad â ni.”

Mae Cronfa Buddsoddi mewn Twristiaeth Cymru , sy’n werth £50 miliwn, yn cael ei hariannu’n gyfan gwbl gan Lywodraeth Cymru. Mae benthyciadau rhwng £100,000 a £5 miliwn ar gael gyda chyfnodau ad-dalu o 10 – 15 mlynedd ar gyfer prosiectau twristiaeth unigryw sy’n cyd-fynd â blaenoriaethau Llywodraeth Cymru, ac yn dangos ymrwymiad i’r Contract Economaidd.

Wales is perfect place to visit and explore this Easter, says Welsh Government

The Welsh Government is encouraging people to visit and explore Wales this Easter and is tackling seasonality by promoting Wales as a nation to visit all year round.

As part of the drive to encourage visitors, Deputy Minister for Arts and Sport Dawn Bowden was the first to officially tour a new multi-million pound visitor attraction in Carmarthenshire.

The development, which is the new home for the Museum of Land Speed and a new eco holiday resort and events facility, aims to offers year-round visitor destination facilities to maximise Pendine’s heritage and natural assets.

It’s hoped the development will attract significant day visitors and night stays as well as host major events, to bring in economic benefits to the area to drive forward the resort’s future economic regeneration.

Perfect time

Deputy Minister for Arts and Sport, Dawn Bowden, who has responsibility for tourism within the Welsh Government, said: “With the Easter holidays fast approaching, we’re looking forward to welcoming visitors repeat and new, and also seeing the people of Wales discover new parts of our country. It’s the perfect time to get out and explore as part of our themed year, Llwybrau. Wales, by Trails.

“It’s a pleasure to be amongst the first to visit this exciting new development in Carmarthenshire, which will help accommodate 41 new jobs.

“The aim of the Tourism Attractor Destination programme is to develop projects that will raise the quality and perception of destinations in Wales, and the iconic stretch of Pendine beach is an excellent backdrop to these new developments which will benefit both residents and visitors to the area.”

Cllr. Gareth John, Carmarthenshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Regeneration, Leisure, Culture and Tourism said: “It’s very exciting to receive a tour of the brand new Tourism Attractor, here in Pendine.

“We have worked with the Welsh Government and other key stakeholders to deliver this excellent facility, which will enhance Pendine’s reputation as an all-year-round, day-and-stay destination for visitors, accommodate 41 jobs and generate £3m per annum to the regional economy.

“I’m looking forward to seeing the doors to the Pendine Tourism Attractor officially opened during the Easter holidays and welcoming visitors to this picturesque part of Carmarthenshire.”

Figures from the recent Wales Tourism Business Barometer show that 64% of businesses either had the same or more customers compared to pre-pandemic levels.

It also showed that 17% of operators are ‘very confident’ about running their business profitably this year, and a further 50% are ‘fairly confident’.

The Deputy Minister recently announced that £5m was being made available to National Parks and Local Authorities through the Brilliant Basics Fund.

The £50m Wales Tourism Investment Fund (WTIF) will also continue to help finance capital investment in projects that grow the sector and have a positive impact on the Welsh economy.

The Deputy Minister added: “I’m fully aware that there continues to be both short and long-term challenges for the sector. However, the Welsh Government remains committed to working with the industry to secure sustainable growth in the years ahead.

“This year, we are inviting people to experience Wales by Trails – and in the lead up to easter Visit Wales’ marketing will continue to keep Wales front of mind, especially with the industry reporting a trend in much later bookings aligned to the economic climate.

“Our focus, as outlined in our tourism strategy is to spread tourism benefits throughout Wales, encouraging increased spend in our economy and tackling seasonality by promoting Wales as a nation you can visit all year round.”

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• Small Business Grants & Start Up Business Grants in Wales - UPDATED

Small Business Grants & Start Up Business Grants in Wales – UPDATED

Many or all of the products and brands we promote and feature including our ‘Partner Spotlights’ are from our partners who compensate us. However, this does not influence our editorial opinion found in articles, reviews and our ‘Best’ tables. Our opinion is our own. Read more on our methodology here .

What is a business grant?

• Business grants in Wales 
• Business grants in North Wales 
• Business grants in South Wales 

Start up business grants in Wales

Alternative ways to finance your business.

Business grants are a sum of money you can claim to support your company without having to pay it back. There is a range of business grants in Wales available for companies that operate in the region. Here, we highlight the different types of grants currently on offer and explain how much you might be able to claim.

Find your business grant with Swoop

Register today to find out what grants you may be eligible for, then apply directly to the relevant grant provider

A business grant is typically a non-repayable sum of money awarded to a business that meets a certain set of criteria. That funding will go towards an organisation completing a certain activity or project, sometimes dictated by the grant itself.

Some business grants are partially or conditionally repayable, however, so it is important to read the details before applying.

As well as business grants in Wales, there are small business grants available across the United Kingdom. There may also be funding for specific groups, such as business grants for women .

Business grants in Wales 

Below are some business grants available to organisations across the whole of Wales. You can find a complete list using the Business Wales finance locator .

Enterprising Communities – ARFOR Programme Support Fund

Sectors: Commercial, social, cooperative and community enterprises

Amount: Between £5,000 and  £75,000 (70% of project costs)

Details: Businesses based in, or looking to relocate to, the ARFOR region – that’s the Welsh language ‘strongholds’ of Anglesey, Gwynedd, Ceredigion and Carmarthenshire – can apply for grants of between £5,000 and £75,000. This is to cover 70% of costs related to projects that strengthen the Welsh language, including developing new local enterprises, creating modern employment opportunities, and keeping wealth in the region.

Wales Tourism Investment Fund (WTIF)

Sectors: Tourism

Amount: £100,000 to £5,000,000 blended grant and loan

Details: This fund focuses on boosting capital investment into the Welsh tourism industry to create a positive impact on the sector and the regional economy. It is a mix of a grant and a loan, so businesses will need to pay back some of the money they receive, usually over a period of between 10 and 15 years. Businesses can invest the money into upgrading or creating new, high-quality assets that help to boost Wales’s image and offer benefits to the economy and the region as a whole.

Sectors: (Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)

Amount: Up to £3,000 in quarterly instalments of up to £750 for the first 12 months; up to £1,000 for job-related training

Details: Businesses that recruit someone who has recently been made redundant can access funding to cover the costs of some of their wages. The scheme aims to help people get back into work quickly, and it is hoped businesses will receive other benefits from employing them in addition to the funding, such as improved productivity and having a trained, skilled workforce. An additional £1,000 is available if you recruit a disabled person or a young person aged 18-to-24 years old. If you recruit a young disabled person, an additional £2,000 is available.

Business grants in North Wales 

The following a selection of business grants available for organisations in North Wales:

Conwy Business Support Grant

Eligible regions: Conwy

Sectors: Social enterprises, farm diversification, retail/wholesale, tourism, services (This is not an exhaustive list.)

Amount: £200 to £1,500 to cover 50% of project costs

Details: If a Conwy business has a planned project that will result in extra staff and increased turnover, then it may be eligible for this grant. It can be used to buy capital equipment (including IT hardware), marketing material, specialist training, and pay other professional fees that will help a business achieve its desired outcome.

Community Toilet Grant Scheme

Eligible regions: Gwynedd County

Sectors: SMEs

Amount: Up to £500

Details: Businesses within Gwynedd County can receive up to £500 from the local council if they open up their toilet facilities to the general public. There is currently a waiting list to join this scheme. 

ISO Grant Scheme

Amount: Cost of consultant

Details: SMEs can use this business funding to help them gain ISO accreditations that will demonstrate their products, services, and systems are safe and of a good quality. The money will pay for the cost of a consultant to work with the business to achieve the standard needed for accreditation, although it will not pay for the certification itself.

Business grants in South Wales 

Below are the business grants available for organisations in South Wales:

Bridgend Special Regeneration Fund

Eligible regions : Bridgend

Sectors: Start ups and SMEs, primarily business to business (B2B)

Amount: £1,000 to £5,000 to cover up to 40% of costs 

Details: This grant is designed to help businesses grow and develop. The grant can fund various activities including capital equipment purchases, website development, and premises improvements.

Caerphilly Enterprise Fund

Eligible regions: Caerphilly

Sectors: SMEs, start ups, community organisations

Amount: Up to £2,000 to cover 50% of expenditure (revenue); up to £10,000 to cover 50% of costs (capital)

Details: Businesses can apply for funding for both capital and revenue costs, including external and internal building works, feasibility studies, marketing, and IT equipment. Applicants must demonstrate how their funded project would bring economic, social, cultural, and environmental benefits to Caerphilly.

Cardiff Knowledge Transfer Partnerships

Eligible regions: Cardiff

Sectors: SMEs and large organisations

Amount: Variable, but guidance states £25,000 a year for SMEs (67% grant), and £35,000 a year for large organisations (50% grant)

Details: A Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) is a three-way partnership between an organisation, a graduate and, in this instance, Cardiff University. It is designed to provide businesses with access to academic skills and expertise. Alongside SMEs and large organisations, third sector businesses of any size can receive a grant contribution of 75% of eligible project costs, subject to a cap.

Carmarthenshire Business Renewable Energy Fund

Eligible regions: Carmarthenshire

Sectors: New and existing businesses in, or planning to locate within, Carmarthenshire

Amount: Between £1,000 and £25,000 (covering 50% of total project costs)

Details: This grant was established to help businesses in the Carmarthenshire area purchase renewable business energy systems, such as small scale wind turbines or commercial solar panels . 

Rhondda Cynon Taf Business Growth Grant Scheme

Eligible regions: Rhondda Cynon Taf

Amount: 75% of projects costs up to £2,000 (if based in a residential premises) or £15,000 (if based in a commercial premises)

Details: Eligible SMEs in the Rhondda Cynon Taf region can apply for a grants to assist with capital expenditure, including buying equipment, international renovation works, energy efficiency measures and website development.

Rhondda Cynon Taf Town Centre Maintenance Grant

Eligible regions: Town centre retail areas of Aberdare, Ferndale, Llantrisant, Mountain Ash, Pontypridd, Porth, Tonypandy and Treorchy.

Sectors: Retail

Amount: 75% of project costs, up to £2,000; additional grant of £500 available to cover skip costs

Details: Retail traders and owners of vacant properties can apply for a Town Centre Maintenance Grant to help make shop front improvements in selected town centres.

Swansea Business Growth Grant

Eligible regions: Swansea

Amount: up to £50,000, based on a limit of £5,000 per job created or safeguarded

Details: Businesses looking to introduce a new product or service in the Swansea area can apply for a grant worth a maximum of £50,000. This total is based on a limit of £5,000 per job created or safeguarded through your business growth.

Swansea Property Enhancement Development Grant

Eligible regions: Swansea city centre, Morriston town centre

Amount: Up to 40% of costs

Details: This scheme focuses on improving the appearance of commercial premises and on finding occupants for vacant and derelict properties. The amount of funding that organisations can receive will vary on a case-by-case basis, with possible areas that the money can be used on including shop fronts, roofs, floors, ceilings, signage, wiring, and others. 

Swansea Website Development Grant

Sectors: SMEs adopting new technology online

Amount: Up to £1,500 (50% of costs in match funding)

Details: If you are a Swansea-based business looking to adopt new technology online, or via website development, you can apply for a match funded grant worth 50% of project costs to a maximum of £1,500.

While some of the grants mentioned above are eligible for start ups, the following are specifically for new and early-stage businesses:

Barriers to Start-up Grant

Eligible regions: Wales

Sectors: Economically inactive and unemployed individuals aged 25-years and over

Amount: Up to £2,000

Details: This start up grant is for unemployed and economically inactive people looking to start a self-employed business in Wales. Alongside a grant worth up to £2,000, the scheme also provides one-to-one support and confidence building webinars, alongside advisors to provide further start up guidance.

BG Effect Business Fund

Eligible regions: Blaenau Gwent

Sectors: Start ups

Amount: Up to £1,000 to cover 80% of costs

Details: This start up business grant aims to help new enterprises develop and achieve their growth objectives, whether that’s by funding expert advice and support, necessary equipment purchases, marketing materials, or business location costs.

Blaenau Gwent Kick Start Plus

Sectors: Start ups that are six months to three years old

Amount: Up to £1,000 to cover up to 50% of costs

Details: Established to complement the start up grant, this Kick Start grant aims to help businesses develop and expand further. Eligible costs of this fund include marketing, website development, IT, and training.

Caerphilly Business Start-up Grant

Amount: Up to £500 to cover up to 50% of costs

Details: Individuals in Caerphilly wanting to set up a business may be able to receive support from this start up business grant. Funding can be used to help new businesses grow and develop, by contributing to the costs of equipment, IT equipment, web development, marketing, building works, and other costs incurred from starting a business.

Carmarthenshire Business Start Up Grant

Sectors: Start ups Amount: Between £1,000 and £10,000 (50% of project costs, or maximum of £5,000 per job created, whatever is the lesser)

Details: Start ups based in Carmarthenshire can access grants of up to £10,000, with a focus on creating new jobs. The minimum grant award is £1,000, based on a new job being created, with the business owner being included as a new job. 

Neath Port Talbot Innov8 Scheme

Eligible regions: Neath Port Talbot

Amount: Up to £1,000 (to cover 50% of costs)

Details: This grant is part of a wider support package for people aged 18-years and over looking to start, develop or grow a business in Neath Port Talbot. Alongside the funding, entrepreneurs can access workshops and courses, information on business premises, and ongoing support.

Swansea Pre-Start Grant

Amount: Up to £10,000 (to cover 95% of first £1,000 of costs, and then 50% of costs)

Details: If you are looking to start a brand new business in Swansea, you can apply for a grant worth up to £10,000 to help with getting your idea off the ground, including buying equipment, undertaking training, or paying for marketing.

Young Person’s Start Up Grant

Sectors: Individuals under the age of 25

Details: If you are under the age of 25, and live or are returning to live in Wales, and want to become self-employed, you could be eligible for a grant of up to £2,000 to assist you in starting your business .

There are several alternatives to finance your business if you’re unable to secure a grant. 

For example, crowdfunding can help you raise funds from the public directly, while peer-to-peer lending lets you borrow from a pool of investors. 

It’s also possible to finance your business by using an angel investor in return for a share of your company. 

Traditional business loans can also give you access to funds to help expand your company.  

Image source: Getty Images

About the Authors

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Small Business & Start Up Business Grants in Scotland – UPDATED

If you’re a business based or operating in Scotland, it’s worth being aware of the grants that could be available to you. Here’s how much is on offer and the eligible businesses and projects.

Small Business Grants & Start Up Business Grants in Northern Ireland – UPDATED

If you are looking to start, grow or expand your business, you may need some financial assistance. Small business grants and start up business grants in Northern Ireland can do just that. Find out what kind of help is available below.

Government Business Loans: 9 Sources of Support

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Original research article, innovating the blue economy: a novel approach to stakeholder landscape mapping of the atlantic area sea basin.

• 1 Renewable Energy Group, College of Engineering, Mathematics and Physical Science, University of Exeter, Penryn, United Kingdom
• 2 Landscape Analysis and Management Laboratory, Department of Geography, University of Girona, Girona, Spain
• 3 University of Exeter Business School, Penryn, United Kingdom
• 4 Department of Finance and Accounting, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, Galicia, Spain
• 5 Atlanpole, Pôle Mer Bretagne Atlantique, Nantes, France
• 6 Institute of Technology, Tralee, Ireland
• 7 Dublin City University, Ryan Academy for Entrepreneurs, Dublin, Ireland
• 8 Fundo Regional Para a Ciência e Tecnologia, Secretaria Regional do Mar, Ciência e Tecnologia, Ponta Delgada (São Miguel - Açores), Portugal
• 9 College of Shipbuilding Engineering, Harbin Engineering University, Harbin, China

The Blue Economy is an emerging paradigm with the potential to foster balanced socio-economic development of the world’s oceans and coastal areas, but it requires an understanding of the stakeholder landscape at a national and at an international sea basin scale, so that we can model potential equitable and collaborative economic development. Applying a novel, mixed-method approach we collected, collated and analysed spatial and non-spatial stakeholder information from five countries (United Kingdom, Ireland, France, Spain and Portugal), that border the North East Atlantic sea basin. Through the development of Blue Economy stakeholder directory for the North East Atlantic area more than 600 local, regional, national and international (EU wide and global) stakeholders were analysed in terms of their Blue Economy alignment and to determine their respective enabling role (financier, service providers, research/innovators and regulators/policy makers). Results show 72% of the North East Atlantic sea basin stakeholders fail to recognise the socio-economic potential of the Blue Economy, regardless of the new policy instruments and a strategic focus from the European Commission. We also identify that public and research/academic institutions currently dominate the landscape of Blue Economy stakeholders; but note this is inconsistent, when compared with other economic sectors in maritime territories. Based on the results, we discuss the key challenges facing equitable growth of the Blue Economy in the North East Atlantic area.

1 Introduction

The ocean and its sea space have enormous economic potential for clean energy production, development of marine products and services and the exploitation of large marine resources, as well as providing leisure, food and social welfare for their bordering populations. The equitable use of marine resources is essential and to ensure this, European sea basins must be analysed and planned holistically. The European Blue Growth Strategy ( European Commission, 2017 ) is a long-term strategy promoting sustainable and equitable economic growth for the marine environment and the maritime sectors. Accordingly, opportunities for ocean-based development rely on: the generation of new expertise and jobs; improved clean energy supply from oceans; support for local production and supply chains, and increased competitiveness and technological innovation ( European Commission, 2019 ). From 2007-2019, the EU estimates 1 that the Blue Economy’s (hereafter BE) core sectors (ocean energy, aquaculture, marine biotechnology, deep sea mining and coastal tourism) have contributed to 4 million jobs and almost €180 billion of Gross Value Added (GVA) ( EU Maritime Affairs ). European sea basin strategies such as the Atlantic Action Plan provide Research and Innovation Agendas, which aim to guide blue growth and support EU coastal countries in the development of new jobs and expertise ( Atlantic Strategy, 2020 )

Although policymakers, public administrations and researchers emphasise the importance of the Blue Economy, our study finds there is still no consistent definition of the Blue Economy concept, and this lack of cohesion is potentially leading to a lack of awareness and adoption of the Blue Economy as a complete industrial sector. As such the BE is often sub-divided into established/traditional sectors (aquaculture, fishery related activity, ports, ship building, oil and gas extraction, coastal tourism, maritime transport, etc…) or emerging new sectors (e.g., blue biotechnology, desalination, renewable energy, coastal and environmental protection). However, the existing set of instruments used to ensure an organized use of human activities at sea and sustainable and ecosystem-based use of marine resources (e.g., marine spatial planning, data and monitoring, ecosystem-based management principles), are not always applied consistently to promote blue growth across sectors ( O’Higgins et al., 2019 ; Bennett et al., 2019 ; Zuercher et al., 2022 ).

The ongoing BE challenges require an increased understanding of how to manage oceans equitably, along with an awareness that sustainability can only be effective if ‘ collaboration is maintained across borders, marine sectors and stakeholders ’ ( WWF, 2020 ). Like any transnational governance process, the progress of blue growth strategies requires the engagement of stakeholders at an intra and supra-national level (e.g., Atlantic Strategy, Mer Littoral 2030 – French National Strategy for Sea & Coast) for the development of a shared vision of the marine environment as a resource and to create the necessary knowledge-driven management mechanisms to ensure investment certainty with ample opportunities for innovation.

The aim of this research is to assess the North East Atlantic Area’s (NEAA) BE stakeholder landscape through the application of a novel, mixed-method approach. This comprises: an examination of stakeholder type, role and sectoral-foci and the derivation of a sea basin level stakeholder topography to support blue growth and economic development at a regional, national and EU-level.

Our study provides a novel interpretation of the NEAA BE and its respective development strategies by:

• a systematic collection of stakeholder data

•carrying out a sea basin level stakeholder analysis (including local, regional, national and international, and spanning five different countries)

• providing a geo-spatial representation of the BE landscape and

• presenting existing financial support mechanisms in the NEAA for the BE sectors of aquaculture, coastal tourism, ocean energy and marine biotechnology and an illustrative case study that demonstrates EU Blue Growth strategy in action (Accelerating Growth through Innovation – EU-ERDF) ( Marine-I, 2017 ).

Within this study we adapt the European BE definition, as ‘economic activities related to ocean, sea and coasts’ ( Atlantic Strategy, 2020 ). In the Annex 1 we provide a set of alternative definitions of the concept.

We present the economic opportunities and challenges within the BE, including an overview of financial support mechanisms on national and EU-level available in the NEAA, and discuss levels and types of support provided to five main BE sectors defined within the European BE report. Our results will enable decision-makers to better understand the state of the BE in their region and inform strategic decisions accordingly.

2 The Blue Economy and Sea Basin Approaches

Oceans are pivotal to the development of our societies, our economies and our welfare. Historically nations with access to the oceans have enjoyed greater trading wealth and have developed exploration and colonisation far beyond their original borders. Extended territories, division of land and the subsequent implementation of sometimes arbitrary political boundaries, have all contributed to the ‘tragedy of the commons’ ( Hardins, 1968 ). Dating back to economic theories of the mid-19 th century ( Lloyd, 1833 ), but made popular in recent years by Ostrom’s seminar work ( Ostrom, 2009 ) on public choice, institutionalism and the relationship with the commons (a term used to represent common resources such as air, sunlight, wind but also water, forests, the oceans etc.), the tragedy relates to the over-use and exploitation of resources. Problems of equitable ocean use were first identified with issues of over-fishing in small sea catchments, but then amplified into public view in the 1970s relating to pollution and other issues in the Mediterranean ( Hass, 1989 ), where waste from one nation polluted sea space of another. These ‘enclosed-sea’ issues soon shed light on wider problems in the larger interconnected oceans, bringing about a realisation that with extensive tidal modelling and the analysis of ocean currents, our global sea area can be effectively considered as interconnected sea basins ( Clemente, 2012 ). Exploring rational choice in international development and searching for resolutions for equitable division, systems-level and catchment-level analysis are encouraged through high-level assessment, modelling and collaborative international governance ( Araral, 2014 ).

The awareness of Blue Economy as a sector has grown in the past 10 years. Defined by the United Nations (UN) as the ‘ economic activities that comprise of economic sectors and policies that determine whether the use of the ocean is sustainable ’, the Blue Economy is now ‘ front and centre ’ on the world’s economic stage. There are, however, significant disparities at a definition level (see Supplementary Material , Annex 1 ). Although, all definitions identify the economic and social role of marine ecosystems, some include regulations related to marine resource use, sustainability and protection of the marine environment, but this does not appear in more practical definitions. Thus, a key gap in the understanding of the BE is a consistent definition as an economic sector, which also clearly identifies contributing sectors influencing blue growth ( OECD, 2016 ; Smith-Godfrey, 2016 ; The World Bank Document, 2017 ; Keen et al., 2018 ; EU-MAF, 2019 ; WWF, 2020 ).

With considerable policy interest in stimulating blue growth and developing the BE, but with an imperative to develop a supranational sea basin approach, our aim is therefore to inform the development agenda for sea basins and equitable ocean use by undertaking a systematic collection of stakeholder information and creating a Stakeholder Directory. This requires developing a novel approach for assessing activity at a sea basin level, capable of collating and amalgamating data from local, regional, national and international stimulus. This includes identifying provisions that create, enhance or fuel blue growth.

3 The North Eastern Atlantic Area – The Study Area

The Atlantic Ocean stretches between the Americas and Europe in the North and Africa in the South. This vast area covering approximately one fifth of the earth’s surface, is generally subdivided into two sea basins of the north and south and two subsequent divisions of East (Europe) and the West (North America). Our project focuses on the Eastern, North Atlantic sea basin (excluding the Norwegian Sea and Iceland) which for the purposes of this study is entitled the North East Atlantic Area (NEAA) ( Figure 1 ).

Figure 1 The North East Atlantic Area with EEZ countries involved in this study.

This area was selected in our study due to being one of the most densely populated and economically important sea basins in the world. It includes five economically wealthy and traditionally maritime nations, who, at the time of data collection were all active member of the European Union [United Kingdom (UK), France (FR), Ireland (IE), Portugal (PT) and Spain (ES)]. As with many of the most widely utilised sea spaces, the NEAA catchment is an important area for analysis, particularly with the growing recognition of the rapid development of BE in these countries ( Table 1 ). The area is also rich in marine life and contains unique habitats of high ecological biodiversity ( Johnsen et al., 2002 ), such as cold-water coral reefs and deep-sea sponge aggregations ( Frank et al., 2010 ; Ramiro-Sánchez et al., 2019 ). The Gulf Stream is the dominating ocean circulation phenomenon conveying nutrients and warm, oxygen-rich water to EU coasts ( OSPAR Commission, 2000 ). The NEAA is therefore seen as a strategic area for BE development with multiple maritime sectors active in its sea space, including maritime shipping ( MMO. Mapping UK Shipping Density and Routes from AIS., 2014 ) and fishery and tourism ( Calado et al., 2019 ; MSP-Platform, 2020 ). There are also new, rapidly growing sectors in the area such as ocean renewable energy ( van den Burg et al., 2017 ; Pınarbaşı et al., 2019 ) and aquaculture ( Hambrey and Evans, 2016 ; Schupp et al., 2019 ).

Table 1 An overview of the geographical and socio-economic boundary conditions for NEAA countries, including their EEZ portion (in km 2 ), employment (from 2007-2019) in the maritime economy (thousands of people) and contribution of the Blue Economy to the GDP (%) ( Calado et al., 2019 ).

4 Methodology

4.1 conceptual design of the blue economy stakeholder directory.

The methodological approach for the identification and collection of BE relevant stakeholders 2 is based on a mixed method approach ( Depellegrin et al., 2019 ; Steinmetz-Wood et al., 2019 ) combining qualitative and quantitative data collection techniques. For this research we used a structured online search on national and EU wide BE development trends to identify primary concepts that were cross-referenced with expert group meetings (November 2019), questionnaires and workshops (Blue Economy workshop – November 2019) to determine constructs, which were populated using statistical analysis techniques, based on R programming language ( Team, R Core, 2013 ) combined with GIS-based analysis techniques ( ArcGIS Online, 2020 ) to present our geo-spatial economic data. Both expert group meetings and discussion workshops comprised of researchers (including marine engineers, marine scientists, and marine spatial planners), BE experts, representatives of regional authorities and sectoral entrepreneurs in the fishery and aquaculture sector. As shown in Table 2 , the main sectors represented were aquaculture, coastal tourism, marine biotech, ocean energy, seabed mining and the fishing sector which also belongs to one of the underrepresented sub-sectors identified in our primary data collection. The conceptual design of the research and the overall workflow, in terms of information sources, components of the structured questionnaire and outputs, are presented in Figure 2 . In addition, Table 2 defines the six main attributes used to characterize the BE stakeholders of the NEAA and thus included in the BE stakeholder directory (available in Annex 2 ).

Table 2 Overview and description of the attributes defined for the stakeholder directory development.

Figure 2 Conceptual framework describing the 3 main steps applied for the analysis of Blue Economy landscape of the NEAA.

4.2 Stepwise Approach for Blue Economy Landscape Analysis

The BE stakeholders landscape analysis followed combined qualitative and quantitative data collection techniques ( Depellegrin et al., 2019 ; Steinmetz-Wood et al., 2019 ) implemented in three key steps (as shown in Figure 2 ):

Step 1 – Data collection. A structured review of BE literature was conducted at a global, European and Atlantic level to address the most important governance mechanisms in BE (for example the EU Blue Economy Report; BlueInvest; OSPAR Convention etc.) and relevant BE development trajectories (c.f. the OECD, WWF etc.). An expert group meeting (November 2019, Manchester) was used to identify attributes for BE stakeholder identification and characterisation.

Step 2 – Database development. An electronic survey was designed to collect the necessary knowledge to identify and characterise stakeholders supporting the NEAA BE. A key set of attributes for stakeholder characterisation were identified through extensive literature review ( Maguire et al., 2012 ; van den Burg et al., 2017 ; European Commission, 2018 ; European Commission, 2019 ). The five distinct attributes (shown in Table 2 ) include: 1) general identification of the stakeholder, based on public available information on websites, policy briefs, social media; 2) a stakeholder category (e.g. private investor, maritime cluster, spin-off, learned bodies, accelerator) identified using expert knowledge and literature research ( Maguire et al., 2012 ; Roe, 2015 ); 3) geographic scale of influence of the BE stakeholder ( Solomonsz et al., 2021 ); 4) the role of the stakeholder according to EU BE sectors ( European Commission, 2018 ); 5) which stakeholders provide different types of financial support; and 6) the main BE sector the stakeholder belongs to or is active in, according to the Blue Growth Strategy. This includes the five main BE contributory sectors (aquaculture, coastal tourism, marine biotech, ocean energy, seabed mining) and respective sub-sectors ( European Commission, 2019 ).

Step 3 – Analysis of the Atlantic BE landscape. The database, developed in Step 2, was statistically analysed using the R programming language, combined with GIS-based analysis techniques ( ArcGIS Online, 2020 ), with the database of the stakeholders geocoded using the R library ggplot2 ( R-Documentation, 2020 ) and a Google Application Programming Interface (API) key ( Developers.google, 2020 ). An API key is a unique identifier used to authenticate a user, developer, or calling program to an API. This allowed determination of the geographic coordinates (longitude/latitude) of the stakeholder addresses. The BE clusters were investigated using the GIS-based software named ArcGIS with the aim to geospatially represent the stakeholder distribution and the sectors of the BE they represent in the Atlantic Area. To map BE clusters, we used the geo-location of the surveyed stakeholder from the stakeholder directory (general attribute; Table 2 ) with a point density tool ( ESRI, 2020 ). This generates a spatial indicator of the magnitude of BE stakeholders that fall within a neighbourhood, located around each cell.

In order to analyse the role of stakeholders as financier within different BE sectors we applied an alluvial diagram using ggalluvial ( Mauri et al., 2017 ). Alluvial diagrams are flow diagrams that represent how a same set of items regroups according to different variables. They are composed by nodes and flows that link nodes.

5.1 Stakeholder Landscape of the Atlantic Blue Economy: An Overview

The analysis of BE stakeholder landscapes for the Atlantic Region includes n = 616 stakeholders ( Figure 3 ; see Annex 2 for full BE stakeholder directory). In the typological stakeholder distribution ( Figure 3A ), we identified public institutions/authorities ( n = 114), private companies ( n = 68), research institutions ( n = 58), business angels ( n = 36) and investor groups ( n = 36). In our study, scientific research is considered outside of public institutions (higher education institutions and academia) (n = 29). In terms of stakeholder-based financial support for blue growth we distinguished investment platforms ( n = 27), investment fund managers ( n = 26), foundations ( n = 22), or business support or consultancies ( n = 20). The geospatial distribution of the BE clusters of the NEAA is illustrated in Figure 4 . In our classification, ‘ Unspecified sectors ’, which refers to stakeholders that act within the BE in general and do not have a specific sector of engagement which constitutes the majority of all analysed stakeholders (64%).

Figure 3 (A) Quantitative distribution (number of stakeholders) by a role of stakeholder in the NEAA and respective countries. (B) Scale of influence of stakeholders by countries Note: Other BE sectors include maritime transport, port activities, environmental conservation or fishery etc. Note: Business angels: people who invest their money in the initial phase of startups, in exchange for a participation in capital [BBVA, 2022 ( Solomonsz et al., 2021 )]; Incubator: an organization or place that aids the development of new business ventures especially by providing low-cost commercial space, management assistance, or shared services ( https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/incubator ); Growth equity Firm is a type of investment opportunity in relatively mature companies that are going through some transformational event in their lifecycle with potential for some dramatic growth ( https://corporatefinanceinstitute.com/resources/knowledge/trading-investing/growth-equity/ ); Government research and institutes: refer to national research centers and universities.

Figure 4 Overall clusters of the Atlantic Blue Economy landscape. Spatially clustered distribution of Blue Economy stakeholders by sector in the NEAA.

The territorial representation of the BE stakeholder includes 7% international/EU level stakeholders and 93% national level, with analysis determining distribution as: Portugal 27%; United Kingdom 22%; France 18%; Spain 17% and Ireland 9%. Of all stakeholders analysed, 84% has national, regional and local scale of influence, and 16% significant on the international/European scale ( Figure 3B ).

Overall, results show that in the UK, n = 133 stakeholders were identified for England (n = 80), Wales (n = 9), Scotland (n = 38) and Northern Ireland (n = 6). The prevailing analysed BE stakeholders refer to public institutions (n=23) and private companies (n=22), followed by investment platforms (n=13), fund (n=12), and business support/consultancies (n=8). 12% of analysed stakeholders in the UK have global influence. In Ireland, n = 58 stakeholders were identified, of which 17% have global influence. The most important centres for BE are Dublin, Cork and Galway. The most predominant BE stakeholder groups refer to public institutions and private companies followed by higher education institutions and business support/consultancies. Although, the ‘Unspecified sectors’ is dominant, ‘Ocean Energy’ has a significant role in Ireland too. In France in total n = 111 stakeholders were identified. The west coast of France, particularly the Brittany region, is characterised with the most relevant distribution of BE stakeholders ( Figure 4 ). There is also a concentration of stakeholders in France influencing blue growth in the NEAA. The most relevant BE stakeholders identified on national level include investment fund managers (n = 21), followed by higher education institutions (n = 17), public institutions (n = 17), research institutions (n=12) and marine clusters (n=9). Most of the analysed stakeholders have national, regional and local influence, with only 4% having a global significance. In Spain, n = 106 stakeholders were identified. The Northern Spain regions of Galicia, Cantabria and the Basque Country have the highest concentration of BE stakeholders. The most relevant BE stakeholders refer to research institutions (n =  38), public institutions (n = 13), foundations (n = 12) and private investors (n=10). It is notable that Marine Biotechnology has a significant role in Spain. The BE sector is of national and regional importance with almost no international influence. A total n = 166 stakeholders were identified in Portugal (including Azores and Madeira Islands). The stakeholders are distributed relatively evenly along the Atlantic coast with the highest concentrations around Lisbon, Porto and Coimbra. The most dominant identified stakeholders are classified as public institutions (n=32), business angels (n=28), investor groups (n=27) and private companies (n=24). The ‘unspecified sectors’ dominate the area, but coastal tourism and fisheries, trade associations and environmental protection (classified here under the ‘Other BE sectors’) are also strong. Unlike Spain, the stakeholders in Portugal have mainly national and regional influence.

5.2 Sectoral Clusters of BE in the NEAA

Figure 4 presents an overall geospatial distribution of BE clusters and according to the BE sectors they represent, namely aquaculture, ocean energy, marine biotechnology, coastal tourism, other BE sectors and ‘unspecified sectors’. Concerning aquaculture, the most important agents are located in Galicia (Spain) and Ireland. Ocean energy clusters are most prominent in the Northern NEAA, especially in the Irish Sea, Cornwall and the English Channel. Clusters of Marine Biotechnology can be found in Galicia and Porto (Northern Portugal). Clusters for Coastal Tourism are relevant in the Azores (Portugal), Dublin area (Ireland), Galicia and Scotland. ‘Other BG sectors’ include maritime transport, fisheries, marine protection etc.

5.3 Sectoral Financial Support Mechanisms for the BE Sectors in the NEAA

In this section we describe the 14 identified financial support mechanisms operating at either a European or national level (see Annex 3 for EU-wide and Annex 4 for national financial support mechanisms). This includes geographic specific area support from the INTERREG Program: Atlantic Area, Channel, 2 Seas ( Interreg - Atlantic Area, 2019 ), and European-wide support mechanisms such as EU-international, European Investment Bank (2019) , BlueInvest Fund and Grants ( BlueInvest, 2019 ), EIC Accelerator ( Enhanced European Innovation Council (EIC) pilot, 2020 ), European Maritime & Fisheries Fund ( European Maritime Fishery Fund, 2019 ), the Executive Enterprise funds and a range of grants for SMEs ( EASME, 2020 ), European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (2020) , European Structural and Investment Funds (2020) , Horizon 2020/Europe ( Horizon 2020 Framework Programme, 2020 ), Northern Periphery and Arctic Program ( Northern Periphery and Arctic Programme 2014-2020, 2020 ), NER 300 ( NER 300 Programme, 2020 ), LIFE: funding instrument for the environment and climate action ( LIFE Programme, 2020 ) and research, acceleration and business growth. For details of financial support mechanism see Supplementary Material s, Annex 3 , 4 .

National financing of BE sectors (aquaculture, coastal tourism, ocean energy, marine biotechnology) in the five countries of the NEAA is illustrated in Figure 5 and listed in Annex 4 . In total, 42 stakeholders provide financial support, but it was evidenced that financial support is BE sector-neutral (i.e., no specific sectorial level funding exists for BE sectors). Relevant resources are regional/national funding mechanisms and in many cases financial support is provided by single entities allocating funds, foundations to local or regional level activity.

Figure 5 Alluvial diagram presenting national level financier by Blue Economy sector identified in this study. Note: data is based on online search, questionnaire and workshops as described in the methodology.

5.3.1 Ocean Energy

The ocean energy sector in the NEAA has been developing rapidly and there are several research grant mechanisms. For instance, in UK the engineering and physical science research council (EPSRC) develops grants on ocean renewable energy technology, such as Impact of Large Floating Wind Turbines on Offshore Navigation ( EPSRC, 2019a ) or holistic maintenance of offshore wind farms ( EPSRC, 2019b ). Other funding support is provided by the Crown Estate [Offshore Wind Sector Deal ( HM Goverment, 2019 )], the Offshore Wind Industry Council (OWIC).

In Ireland, the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEIA) provides research and development funding programs in the ocean energy sector for a clean and secure energy transition in Ireland. An example includes the Ocean Prototype Development Fund for tidal energy development [e.g. GKinetics tidal energy development ( SEIA, 2020 )]. Also through the Renewable Energy Support Scheme (RESS), the Irish Government supports a diversification of energy resources including ocean energy ( RESS, 2020 ). As a result of these efforts, the Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) funded and has been instrumental in setting up a world class research facility, called the Marine Renewable Energy Ireland ( MaREI, 2020 ) based in Ringaskiddy, Cork. Focussing mainly on ocean renewable energy (Algae based biogas, Tidal, Offshore Wind energy and Wave-energy devices), their research priorities focus on Energy transition, Climate Action and Blue Economy. In France, the institute of research and technology called “France Energies Marines” provides funding in R&D projects. Also, the WEAMEC (Western Atlantic Marine Energy Community) is operating various R&D calls that can benefit to research laboratories based in the Region “ Pays de la Loire ” ( WEAMEC, 2020 ). Since 2010, the ADEME through the National Investment Plan (PIA in French) has invested over €500M that benefited 56 different organisations. It should be noted that the four pilot floating wind farms, due to be commissioned from 2022 onwards, have received nearly €300M of public aid through the PIA operated by ADEME ( PIA-ADEME, 2020 ).

In Spain, R&D is mostly funded nationally through the Institute for Energy Saving and Diversification (IDAE), while autonomous regional governments develop their own institutions to influence in a regional level, as INEGA in Galicia or EVE in Basque Country. In Portugal, funding for ocean energy R&D projects is mostly provided by Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia – FCT and by Direção-Geral de Política do Mar –DGPM, through Fundo Azul, MAR2020 and Ocean Invest mechanisms. An existing project, funded by the European Investment Bank (EIB) and backed by the EU’s research and innovation funding programme Horizon 2020, named WaveRoller project ( WaveRoller, 2013 ) situated in Peniche on the mainland (being a surging wave energy flap-type converter project.

5.3.2 Aquaculture

The aquaculture sector is eligible for financial support within the NEAA. UK’s research council (UKRI) provides the support on national level through Biotechnology and Biological Science Research Council (BBSRC). Most recent support grants include the Aquaculture Research Collaboration HUB (ARCH UK) or Lobster Grower project ( Lobster Grower, 2014 ). Other support mechanisms in UK include for Scotland, the Scottish Aquaculture Innovation Centre (SAIC; co-funding) or Scottish Enterprise.

In Ireland, BIM, ( Bord Iascaigh Mhara ), the premier seafood development agency of the country provides funding support to a very large part of the aquaculture industry. BIM has devised many financial aid schemes focussed on seafood processing, innovation and new market development. Special programs for aquaculture knowledge sharing, fleet safety management for fisheries, marine tourism and vessel safety have been provided. They have also collaborated with the HATCH program that helps commercialisation of aquaculture related ideas ( HATCH, 2020 ). Other funding opportunities to Irish enterprises are provided by the Marine Institute with headquarters in Galway. Funding support covers different aspects of the sector such as potential functional food products from Blue whiting or prototyping of novel mooring systems for fish cages ( Ouroceanwealth, 2020 ).

In France, the nationally-and regionally-managed version of the EU fund called ‘EMFF’ is a key source of match-funding (this is a mix of EU contribution and national or regional contribution) ( European Maritime and Fisheries Fund, 2014 ). Other regional calls are operated by the SMIDAP ( Syndicat Mixte pour le Développementde l’ Aquaculture et de la Pêche des Pays de Loire ) ( SMIDAP, 2020 ). Another important source of funding for aquaculture similar to the ADEME agency is the PIA fund operated by FranceAgriMer ( Franceagrimer, 2020 ).

In Spain, the financial public aid is mainly granted at two levels: national and regional level. At the national-level, several calls exist, primarily operated by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fishing and Food and the CDTI ( Centre for the Development of Industrial Technology ) ( CDTI, 2020 ), while at regional level we find public institutions providing aid (for example in Galicia through the Counselling of Sea or in Asturias from the IDEPA ( Institute for Economic Development of the Principality of Asturias )) ( IDEPA, 2020 ). Private financial institutions (for example Abanca) also develop lines of financial support ( Abanca Sea ) to companies linked to marine activities including aquaculture ( Abanca, 2020 ), but they do not establish specific programs for this sector.

In Portugal, existing national and regional funding support l relates to BE sectors in general. Examples of major support mechanisms are provided by Direção-Geral de Políticado Mar– DGPM, 2019 (Fundo Azul, MAR2020, Bluetech Accelerator, Ocean Invest, EEA Grants calls), and Agência para o Desenvolvimento e Coesão, IP - AD&C ( AD&C, 2019 ) (Portugal 2020, Compete 2020, Programa Operacional MAR 2020, Regional PO’s).

5.3.3 Marine Biotechnology

Financial support mechanisms for the marine biotechnology sector in UK are supported by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) and other national-level components by UK Research & Innovation (UKRI). Other stakeholders providing financial supporting to the sector include the Industrial Biotechnology Innovation Centre (IBioIC) in Scotland ( IBioIC, 2019 ).

In Ireland, the Marine Institute (MI) plays a fundamental role in support of marine biotechnology through strategic funding and research ( MaREI, 2020 ). The MI, operating under the Food Institutional Research Measure (FIRM) formed by the Irish government, which was in turn responsible for forming the NutraMara project ( Nutramara, 2019 ), which is now a 100% Irish owned and operated blue biotechnology company. The MI also supported the All-Island Beaufort Biodiscovery Project aimed at discovering new drugs and advanced biomaterials from marine animals, plants and micro-organisms. Under the National Integrated Marine plan for Ireland; Harnessing Our Ocean Wealth ( Ouroceanwealth, 2020 ), MI were instrumental in setting up a task force to act as advisory in helping and assessing Ireland’s resources in marine biotechnology.

In France low-to-intermediate TRL R&D activities are mostly funded through ANR (National Research Agency) ( ANR, 2019 ) and regional councils. In particular, the Brittany region has received strong support to develop macroalgae concepts into marketable products or services while the region ‘ Pays de la Loire ’ has significant investment in microalgae topics. Most recently on the French Atlantic Area, we can highlight two important innovative projects that received funding to support the development of algae culture, namely 10M€ from the PIA as partners on IDEALG (18 partners (72),) and AlgoSolis (microalgae R&D platform) which received over €5M of funding ( AlgoSolis, 2020 ).

In Spain, national and regional financial support is primarily operated by the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism; focused mainly on R&D&I projects, while different institutions are created by regional governments to support R&D activities, like Plataforma de Excelencia en Biotecnología de Algas (PEBA) ( PEBA, 2019 ) in Canary Islands or BioIncubaTech ( BioIncubaTech, 2019 ) in Galicia. Overall, public aid is allocated to both enterprises and public research centres. Private funding resources are linked to venture capital [see for instance Caixa Capital Biomed, 2019 and Caixa Innvierte Biomed II ( C.I.B, 2020 )].

In Portugal, the major funding support mechanisms for marine biotechnology R&D are provided by Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia ( Foundation of Science and Technology, 2019 ) and Direção-Geral de Política do Mar ( DGPM, 2019 ). The development of marine biotechnology includes the diversity of samples used as substrate, but also the most diverse applications that have been given to marine natural products ( Foundation of Science and Technology, 2019 ). The efficiency of production and processing technologies to obtain bioactive on medium and large scale however is still low, given the limited infrastructure available in Europe and low-levels of practical knowledge of the specificities of each end-use sector, which affects the value chain. There are some private initiatives in the microalgae field, such as Algae4Future company ( A4F, 2020 ) specialized in commercial-scale microalgae biomass production units, which recently opened the ALGATEC Eco Business Park ( AlgaTec. WTIF ), the largest microalgae production platform in Europe, supporting entrepreneurs and investors in algae and microalgae sectors.

5.3.4 Coastal Tourism

The coastal communities fund provided by the UK Government provides support to economic development in coastal and seaside areas. Projects have the aim of supporting job creation and Blue Growth in the field of tourist infrastructure, regeneration of heritage infrastructure or, for instance, promote leisure yachting ( Conservatives, 2018) . In Scotland, funding support is provided (in particular for tourism infrastructure development) by the Rural Tourism Infrastructure Fund ( RTIF, 2019 ). In Wales, funding to tourism is supported by the Business Wales ( Business Wales, 2019 ) and the Wales Tourism Investment Fund ( WTIF ).

In Ireland, the National Tourism Development Authority provides a large set of large and small grants for the implementation of the National Tourism Strategy supporting tourism industry and the diversification of tourism offer ( Failte Ireland, 2016 ). For example, the New Horizons on the Wild Atlantic Way 2018 grants scheme has helped in developing and improving visitor experience across Irish coastal areas (e.g., the Skellig Coast, Kerry and the Connemara Coast & Aran Islands).

In France, the sector of coastal tourism is considered very broad and can be funded by various regional and national funding mechanisms. As a general trend, it can be noted that funding mechanisms supporting coastal tourism in France tend to consider coastal protection and environmental impact of tourism as a key factor to receive public funding. Most recently, the Covid-19 crisis led to the creation of several new public aid mechanisms. The tourism sector, being one of the most impacted industries by the crisis, can benefit from most of the funding schemes exceptionally developed in this context.

In Spain, the tourism industry is one of the most important sectors for the Spanish economy, representing more than 12% of GDP and total employees ( Instituto Nacional de Estatistica ). Due the importance of the sector, several different public institutions develop aid related to tourism, from national (operated by the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism ), regional (as for example Galician Agency for Tourism ( Galician Agency for Tourism, 2019 )) to local level. Although new approaches to sustainable tourism are being developed at a national level through the Strategy for Sustainable Tourism of Spain 2030 ( Secretaría de Estado de Turismo, 2019 ), there are no specific mentions to coastal tourism or BE on their guidelines, similar to the lack of financial mechanisms.

In Portugal, strategic development of the sector has especially promoted Portuguese islands, mainly in the nautical tourism subsector ( RIS3, 2019 ). The Azores territory stands out as there are some defined parameters existing regarding the recognition of quality of maritime and coastal tourism (e.g., the Quality Coast Awards).

6 Marine-I Case Study

Our overarching stakeholder analysis presents national, regional and/or local mechanisms for support. However, to illustrate how a BE network can be an effective mechanism across a range of sectors and within various economic activities focussed on marine technology opportunities, new jobs, new products, development of new and existing business and innovation, we present the UK regional Marine-I programme. Established to create an enduring innovative marine technology sector in the domain of ocean energy in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, UK, Marine I aims to help businesses embrace the emerging opportunities meeting global goals for growth and sustainable development by 2030 ( UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, 2015 ; Lee et al., 2020 ). The region has high blue growth potential focussed on marine energy, marine manufacturing, maritime operations and marine environmental technologies. The marine sector contributes over £500M to the GDP of Cornwall and Isles of Scilly, and the county is pioneering ground-breaking marine-tech projects. Marine-I supports local marine technology businesses through research, development and innovation to develop their ideas to product demonstration and commercialisation. Six partners have worked in collaboration, building on the success of the first Marine-I programme (2017-2019), which lead to continuation with the ongoing European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) support from 2020 to 2023. The first phase was partly funded by ERDF with £5.7M and the continuation obtained an additional £4.1M grant ( Figure 6 ). The Marine-I unique team, which brings outstanding expertise in the marine industry and world-class test facilities, includes University of Exeter (the project lead partner), University of Plymouth, Falmouth Marine School, Cornwall Marine Network, Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult and Cornwall Development Company. The available support compromises from: 1) RD&I support that includes input from the field-leading scientists, access to test facilities, business and operational guidance; 2) subsidised graduate staff placements; 3) access to Marine Challenge Fund (MCF) to support SMEs commercialisation roots of early-stage innovations; 4) support in marketing activities through event support. The programme allowed for engagement of 139 marine businesses that included business assists, a support of new enterprises, business grants, as well as created 15 new jobs and 12 new products to market ( Figure 6 ).

Figure 6 Grants vs outputs for completed Marine-I 1 and current Marine-I 2 project. Note that overall value for Marine-I 2 is £5,520,000 and the figure include only the value of the project at December 2021.

7 Discussion

The NEAA BE economic ecosystem has been evaluated based on the detailed analysis of the stakeholders, their roles, their sector of engagements and potential scale of influence. The analysis, viewed from an international perspective was challenging due to imprecise definition of BE and its reinterpretations to favour individual elements. A major challenge is that BE has not been considered as an industrial sector on its own, but composed of different sectors (directly and indirectly connected to the sectors’ supply chain) and with organisations undertaking multiple stakeholder roles. Consecutively, BE is a relatively new concept, still in constant evolution, which leads to a debate, even at a conceptual level: for example, institutions like EU or OECD define BE as economic activities, anchored into specific assets, while other organisations (WWF or World Bank for example) take a more sustainability, or enviro-contextual dimension. This leads to a very complex multiplicity of stakeholder roles and actions. Equally confusing is the variety of definitions of BE, presented by different international/national/regional agencies. The requirement to define BE as a sector must therefore be a collaboration across borders and between sectors, enabled through various multi-faceted partnerships, guided by an aggregated understanding of BE at an international as well as a national and regional level. This study’s analysis is a first step for stakeholders to realise the importance of the BE as sector, to identify others involved in the sector, and to recognise the potential for collaborations and multi-use platforms. Without this sectoral perspective however, whilst BE is a new and rapidly evolving concept, it may not become tied intrinsically to sustainable, equitable ocean practices (e.g., WWF World Bank definition, Annex 1 ). For Blue Growth to fuel our economies a careful and responsible use of marine resources is essential to prevent their degradation, pollution and overexploitation and therefore ensuring a long-term capacity of oceans to supply goods and services that sustain human health and well-being (95). This requisite dualism of the definition is confirmed in our diverse, international information sources and the detailed engagement with the respective BE stakeholder. Accordingly, our use of diverse information sources for the design of the BE stakeholder directory, enlarges our understanding of regional clusters and extends the BG agenda more internationally.

The stakeholders’ analysis also demonstrates a need for a more in-depth sea basin investigation, to better understand the more granular BE stakeholder landscape of the extended Atlantic Area. This will lead to further design of policies acting across wider sea basins and realising the potential and priorities in sectoral specialisation (driven by public-private partnerships, cross-country knowledge exchange and capacity building) accessing funding at an EU level and creating available funding for investment, development projects, inter-firm collaborations (across the evolving BE value chain). Examining the Marine-I case study, it is evident that identification and creation of opportunities for collaborations within the BE as a sector, when coupled with accessible financial support mechanisms, can contribute to a local BE growth required for key NEAA regions to succeed in global markets in the medium and long term.

In recent years, substantial opportunities and funding have been provided for the analysis and demonstration of other types of ocean-based multi-use platforms ( Zanuttigh et al., 2016 ; Winder and Le Heron, 2017 ; Schupp et al., 2019 ), however, ideally, only financial instruments that support a synergic co-location or interaction of maritime activities in the same geographic area (e.g., offshore wind energy and aquaculture) will promote mutual benefits for the sectors engaged in the BE. For example, recent projects, such as H2020 MUSES (Multi Use of European Seas) explore opportunities and challenges of Multi-Use implementation for Blue Growth ( Schultz-Zehden et al., 2018 ), or MUSICA (Multiple Use of Space for Island Clean Autonomy) provides a test site for synergic use of BE sectors within a multi-use platform (e.g., renewable energy devices supporting shipping infrastructure or aquaculture facilities). Multi-use sea areas have the fundamental advantage of combining biotic and abiotic marine resource exploitation in sea areas, where any single sector may not create the win-win conditions required ( Depellegrin et al., 2019 ). Our research however, evidenced very little multi-use sea basin level stakeholder activity beyond policy-level rhetoric. Examining our stakeholders in more detail identified even wider disconnects. We noted 72% of stakeholders provide financial support independently across sectors, outside of BE sectoral definitions – with the least focussed being public institutions (EU and national) and national research institutions. This is perhaps due to the emerging nature of the BE, but we need our national/regional public institutions to be promotors, and implementers, of BE strategies and marine spatial plans and also enforcers of Atlantic Area strategies. This policy-funding disconnect is especially worrying as whilst sector-neutral support mechanisms (accessible to any sector) are important for supply-chain integrity, they do not reinforce the aggregation of marine and maritime activity towards the BE. Moreover, public authorities at an EU and national/regional level seem to give primary importance to the socio-environmental impact of the funding support provided at a project-level, which in turn amplifies a lack of BE sectoral aggregation. While this demonstrates funding impact and thus encourages likelihood of commitment from private actors, having BE sector-oriented (and BE sub-sector oriented) funding would contribute to the acceleration of BE growth and demonstrate a unified, international attitude to BE potential. This would be particularly relevant for the technology-driven sectors (e.g., ocean energy, aquaculture, marine biotechnology) and would lead to better monitoring of the implementation and sustainability challenges of BE activities.

The knowledge produced in this study on the multi-sectoral BE stakeholder landscape may further help to address the sustainability challenges, in terms of the equitable use of ocean resources. In particular, the co-use of diverse ocean resources and their socio-cultural and economic benefits should be further explored. This could occur through the application of the UN-SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals) to understand how different sectors perform in different geographic areas and their performance relative to particular SDGs ( Lee et al., 2020 ).

As the Atlantic region is both ecologically and socio-economically a very diverse region ( Calado et al., 2019 ), we suggest financial support mechanism should be better designed towards the resource-dependency of the beneficiaries acting in a specific geographic area and the dependency to specific biotic and abiotic marine resources. This may lead also to geographical and sectorial specialisations that can provide new research and innovation opportunities, showcasing products, services and qualifications with a high value in the NEAA territory and beyond. We do note however, that limited financial instruments actively support soft multi-use deployment on a local scale – for example the Community-led Local Development (CLLD) and pescatourism (small scale fishery or aquaculture and coastal tourism) activities are focussed on enhancement of the natural/cultural heritage with sustainable seafood harvesting or production in a very localised area.

By exploring BE stakeholder activities in NEAA we were able to identify regional clusters, such as London and South-Western England in UK, Dublin in Ireland, Bretagne and Pays de la Loire in France, Galicia In Spain and Porto and Lisbon area in Portugal. By adopting an international geo-spatial approach to regional and local developments, further opportunities can be explored to promote knowledge exchange, supply chain integration and complementation. In particular this study can promote existing research and innovation competences across territories and can also complement existing BE Clusters and the development of new ones. The knowledge can further be promoted through the identification of funding mechanisms for stakeholders in the different territories and thus contribute to the consolidation of clusters.

Finally, metropolitan areas play an important role in the development of specialized clusters. In particular, the cities can offer a diversified workforce, networking possibilities and provide better proximity and reachability across the region through different transport vectors ( Doloreux and Shearmur, 2009 ). In addition, metropolitan areas and capitals in the countries of the Atlantic area often refer to decisional and financial centres of the country that are of importance also for peripheral Atlantic regions. The main urban areas of the study area include Dublin (Ireland), London and Edinburgh (United Kingdom), Lisbon (Portugal), Paris and Nantes (France) and Madrid and Vigo (Spain). Clusters in metropolitan areas also benefit from proximity to governmental institutions and to university backed projects and market activities as consequence of major investment. Also of note is Brussels, which includes central institutions in support of the BE on a European level as well as being important for the Atlantic Area. Interestingly, BE clustering in Spain is evenly spread along the coast and on the islands which is result of many regionally available funds ( Annex 4 ).

8 Conclusions

Our research presents a first pass at systematic collection of information sources focused on the Blue Economy stakeholders in the North East Atlantic Area. Our conclusions, which we acknowledge are based on imperfect and to some extent, partially incomplete data sets do provide us with some strong conclusions. Firstly, whilst international policy is placing emphasis on the Blue Economy and growth, we note there is disparity at a definition level. We have endeavoured to reduce this disparity with our definition of the BE, and thus ratified this across NEAA area accordingly. Secondly, we also conclude that whilst BE economy policy focus is evident at an international level, national and regional initiatives in the respective countries are not fully aligned, comprehended and this exploited. This, we suggest is partially due to a reluctance within policymakers to revisit existing sectoral definitions to create new sectors and new support mechanisms. It could also be due, partially, to recent populist political trends toward reinforcing the national agenda, or alternatively merely due to a need for a ‘champagne tower’ approach, where high volumes of rhetoric are required at a policy level for the message to reach the lower, geographically distributed tiers. Finally, we also conclude that it is essential, for the success of the BE and equitable, international blue growth that a sea basin approach be adopted for planning, analysis, and action. In drawing together the data in our study, the challenges of a such approach were highly evident. Developing the first stakeholder data set of this type for marine and maritime activity however, has allowed us to begin to make international level comparisons and also identify potential national level disparity that is previously unexplored. Whilst issues will always occur when comparing different countries and thus different economic areas, comparison at a sea basin level is one of the mechanisms that could lead to understanding equitable use of what a shared resource is in essence.

In terms of the limitations of our work, although the research provides valuable insights in the compositions of BE roles across different NEAA regions, further research is necessary to understand the factual contribution to the BE, in terms of detailed financial support measures, industrial activity, employment and wealth creation at a BE sector level. We acknowledge our work falls short of this detailed financial cross comparison. We do suggest however that these information sources could readily complement our database and could use our mixed-data and geo-spatial approach to create a vibrant BE economic model. This would require additional techniques for data collection, either through company-wide databases and or more effective engagement methods through workshops, focus groups and interviews with relevant actors. This additional information would allow decision-makers to better understand importance of the BE for national and regional economies by mobilising hard economic data and contribute to better understand the fragmentation of BE sectors. In light of current global challenges for the NEAA, driven by Brexit and the COVID-19 recovery, the knowledge we have amassed can be further used to address the effect of the phenomenon on BE sectors, localize its main area of effects through geospatially explicit representations and in future address impacts on supply chain and resource demand for the NEAA BE sectors. The coupled geospatial analysis performed in this study can further contribute to the identification of regional sector or multi-sector clusters and therefore to enhance strategies, policies and financial programs aiming at a sectoral support to the regional BE.

Data Availability Statement

The datasets presented in this article are not readily available because the data contain stakeholder names, addresses and affiliation not to be distributed. Requests to access the datasets should be directed to [email protected] .

Author Contributions

DD: Investigation, Writing - original draft, Methodology, Formal analysis, Writing - review and editing. AZ-G: Writing – final draft, review and editing. AA: writing – second draft, review and editing, Methodology, Formal analysis. DR-P: Methodology, Formal analysis, Writing - review and editing. AD-V: Methodology, Formal analysis, Writing - review and editing. BT: Methodology, Formal analysis, Writing - review and editing. AG: Formal analysis, Writing - review and editing. KH: Formal analysis, Writing - review and editing. EM: Formal analysis, Writing - review and editing. IA: Writing - review and editing. LJ: Formal analysis, Writing - review and editing. All authors contributed to the article and approved the submitted version.

This study was financed by FANBEST Project ( http://www.fanbest.eu ) - Funding Atlantic Network of Blue Economy Technology Transfer (EAPA 1022/2018; INTERREG Atlantic Area ERDF).

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Publisher’s Note

All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article, or claim that may be made by its manufacturer, is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

Supplementary Material

The Supplementary Material for this article can be found online at: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2022.889582/full#supplementary-material

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Keywords: Blue Economy, blue growth, North East Atlantic, maritime sectors, stakeholder mapping, geospatial analysis, financial support, ocean energy

Citation: Depellegrin D, Zawalna-Geer A, Alexander A, Rodeiro-Pazos D, Dios-Vicente A, Teillant B, Guneratman A, Hogan K, Mendonça E, Ashton I and Johanning L (2022) Innovating the Blue Economy: A Novel Approach to Stakeholder Landscape Mapping of the Atlantic Area Sea Basin. Front. Mar. Sci. 9:889582. doi: 10.3389/fmars.2022.889582

Received: 04 March 2022; Accepted: 23 June 2022; Published: 22 July 2022.

Reviewed by:

Copyright © 2022 Depellegrin, Zawalna-Geer, Alexander, Rodeiro-Pazos, Dios-Vicente, Teillant, Guneratman, Hogan, Mendonça, Ashton and Johanning. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) . The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

*Correspondence: Aleksandra Zawalna-Geer, [email protected]

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