HORIZON-CL2-2027-01-HERITAGE-06
A Research and Innovation Action on AI, foresight and community-centred models that make cultural tourism a driver of regenerative local development.
Destination Innovative Research on European Cultural Heritage and Cultural and Creative Industries
DestinationInnovative Research on European Cultural Heritage and Cultural and Creative Industries (2026-27)
Europe’s rich cultural heritage and strong creative industries not only reflect our past but also shape our future. It is by building on this foundation and developing our strengths that we can face the great challenges of our time with confidence and shape a desirable common future.
Europe's cultural heritage originates from the interaction between people and places through time and is constantly evolving. Every citizen has a right to engage with the cultural heritage of their choice, while respecting the rights and freedoms of others, as an aspect of the right to participate freely in cultural life.
Europe’s tangible and intangible cultural heritage and its cultural and creative industries (CCIs) are strategic assets. They strengthen social cohesion, resilience and a sense of belonging, employ more people than the automotive industry and match the trade balance of food, drinks and tobacco combined. Alongside multinationals built on European heritage and creativity, the sector sustains many SMEs and micro enterprises that create jobs, especially for young people, and drive innovation across the whole economy, strengthening Europe’s competitiveness and future prosperity.
R&I activities under this destination will be aligned with the main principles and objectives of the Culture Compass for Europe and support objectives such as circular and just fashion and textiles value-chains, social cohesion and resilience through arts, design and cultural practices and creative entrepreneurial ecosystems for regional development. R&I activities under this destination will support and strengthen European cultural heritage and cultural and creative industries essentially along the following lines:
Unlocking the innovative power of cultural heritage and the CCIs is key to Europe’s future prosperity and competitiveness. The CCIs drive innovation in their own sector and across the economy, shape new technologies and feed user-driven, open and cross-sectoral innovation, while adding cultural wealth, social cohesion and resilience. Research and innovation will focus on creative start-ups, the impact of AI on creativity and its fair deployment, artistic intelligence and soft skills, the circular economy, and global partnerships in cultural policy and the CCIs.
R&I actions under this area will focus on boosting the role of culture, the arts and creative industries in contributing to well-being, to the social economy and in general the societal impact of cultural heritage. R&I actions will explore and strengthen the role of culture, heritage and CCIs in shaping the technologies of the future and focus on safeguarding intangible heritage and linguistic diversity, on sustainable cultural tourism and on countering illicit trafficking of cultural goods, among others.
Projects that use or generate data should draw on existing European infrastructures: the European Open Science Cloud, the ESFRI research infrastructures and the European Data Spaces. Data and digital tools useful to cultural heritage institutions or researchers should link to, or be integrated in, the European Collaborative Cloud for Cultural Heritage (ECCCH), and all data produced should be FAIR: Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Re-usable.
The innovation ecosystems created and nurtured by the Knowledge and Innovation Communities (KICs) of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT), in particular the KIC “EIT Culture and Creativity”, may contribute to actions under this destination, and may as appropriate be considered by applicants. Furthermore, applicants are invited to consult funding opportunities in other parts of the Horizon Europe Work Programme, including for instance the funding opportunities for companies, high potential start-ups, entrepreneurs and innovative researchers offered under the European Innovation Council.
R&I actions under this Destination will help ensure Europe’s sustainable prosperity and competitiveness, support people, strengthening our societies and our social model, contribute to protecting our democracy, upholding our values and boosting a global Europe, leveraging our power and partnerships. They will contribute to reaching the UN Sustainable Development Goals and to building a stronger, more participatory and crisis-resilient society and economy.
Cultural tourism accounts for about 40% of global tourism1 and continues to grow as travellers seek unique, authentic, and immersive experiences.
In addition to its economic benefits, cultural tourism enriches societies through cultural exchange and cross-cultural understanding. The sector faces major transformation driven by technological advancement, shifting consumer expectations, climate change, sustainability imperatives, environmental degradation and threats to cultural integrity – including commodification and heritage degradation. Furthermore, there is a growing emphasis on inclusive and meaningful travel experiences, including accessibility for travellers with disabilities and others with specific needs. This topic takes a multidimensional approach to future-proofing sustainable cultural tourism amid technological, social and environmental change across the EU and beyond. Proposals should select either Focus 1 or Focus 2 and clearly state their selection.
Proposals are expected to explore how integrating AI-powered tools and other emerging technologies with cultural tourism can strengthen its resilience, inclusivity, and sustainability. Additionally, through AI-assisted participatory foresight proposals should address the need for tourism systems to move from reactive management to anticipatory governance models, building resilience to global challenges.
Proposals should investigate AI applications that reshape cultural tourism experiences while ensuring that they remain authentic and respectful of local integrity; enhance inclusivity, including equal access to technology and improved accessibility for persons with disabilities; help manage visitor pressure. They could leverage available public and private data and infrastructures, such as the European Data space for Tourism.2 Building on recent developments in AI and immersive technologies, proposals could for example use AI-powered virtual and augmented reality to boost visitor engagement and cross-cultural appreciation of cultural sites while preserving historical integrity. They should investigate novel approaches to AI-driven personalisation that develop inclusive, non-discriminatory, tailored cultural experiences, which are ethically managed, and ensure fair representation of minority or lesser-known heritage and cultural expressions.
Proposals could analyse the integration of AI in multilingual interpretation and cultural mediation to overcome language barriers and deepen cultural understanding of local contexts or develop and refine AI-powered tools for visitor flow management, real-time heritage monitoring, and balancing preservation with inclusive tourism. Furthermore, proposals are expected to develop methodological frameworks for applying AI-assisted foresight (scenario planning, horizon scanning, among others) to anticipate trends and challenges in cultural tourism – such as shifts in visitor behaviour, cultural commodification risks, and potential disruptions (e.g. related to climate, pandemics, energy crises), enabling the identification of opportunities and risks and fostering proactive, data-informed policy responses. AI-based predictive analytics should be combined with participatory workshops to engage local communities, authorities, and cultural organisations in co-creating forward-looking sustainable tourism strategies.
Proposals are expected to develop sustainable cultural tourism frameworks and strategies tailored to emerging and less-developed destinations, especially in low-income and lesser-known regions seeking to leverage culture and creativity for economic growth and social development, including through addressing depopulation and preventing overtourism. These frameworks may foster creative entrepreneurial ecosystems for regional development. Partnerships with non-EU countries are encouraged.
Proposals should investigate cross-border collaboration models that enable mutual learning, upskilling, fair working conditions, knowledge transfer and capacity building between EU and non-EU partners. Proposals should identify and adapt proven sustainable cultural tourism models to diverse less-developed settings (urban, peri-urban, rural) emphasizing equitable benefit-sharing. The research should include the analysis of case studies of successful community integration in cultural tourism decision-making.
Partnerships among local communities, creative industries (including crafts), local businesses and cultural heritage organisations should be prioritised to co-create economically viable, environmentally balanced, authentic and culturally respectful tourism offerings, potentially using living labs and pilot demonstrations. Projects are expected to establish collaborative networks for small businesses and civil society actors in cultural tourism, supporting them through access to researchers, policymakers, expertise, knowledge, resources and collaborative opportunities.
Projects should contribute to the first expected outcome, plus those under either Focus 1 or Focus 2, depending on the chosen focus.
AI integration and strategic foresight
Cultural tourism for local development
Background documents for this call. Select a cover to download the report.
1UN World Tourism Organization (2018), Tourism and Culture Synergies, p. 21. e-unwto.org/doi/epdf/10.18111/9789284418978
2European Data Space for Tourism: hadea.ec.europa.eu/calls-proposals/data-space-tourism_en
3This includes projects funded by Cluster 6 topic HORIZON-CL6-2024-COMMUNITIES-02-2-two-stage: New sustainable business and production models for farmers and rural communities.
4European Commission, DG MOVE, EU Tourism Platform: Transition Pathway for Tourism. transition-pathways.europa.eu/tourism
5European Commission, DG MOVE, EU Tourism Platform: Tourism Transition Pathway reports, including stocktaking of progress. transition-pathways.europa.eu/tourism/knowledge-and-learning/ttp-reports
6European Commission: Directorate-General for Mobility and Transport, Transport and tourism in the European Union – Current trends and issues, Publications Office of the European Union, 2026, data.europa.eu/doi/10.2832/7133601
7European Commission: Directorate-General for Structural Reform Support and Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, [Directorate-General for Structural Reform Support, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development], Workshop on tourism data sharing, governance and integration – Report, Publications Office of the European Union, 2025, data.europa.eu/doi/10.2887/263820
8European Commission: Eurostat, Tourism satellite accounts in Europe – 2026 edition, Publications Office of the European Union, 2026, data.europa.eu/doi/10.2785/1839533
9Eurofound, Rodríguez Contreras, R., Weber, T. and Adăscăliței, D., Sustainable tourism in a digital age – Preparing the tourism sector for the twin transitions, Publications Office of the European Union, 2025, data.europa.eu/doi/10.2806/6354911
10European Commission: Directorate-General for Regional and Urban Policy, Interreg GO! – Governance models for tourism & culture in Interreg, Publications Office of the European Union, 2025, data.europa.eu/doi/10.2776/8103033
11European Commission: Directorate-General for Mobility and Transport and NIT, [Directorate-General for Mobility and Transport, NIT], Guidance for a more sustainable mobility in rural tourism regions, Publications Office of the European Union, 2025, data.europa.eu/doi/10.2832/8860953
12Iodice, S., van Heerden, S., Ribeiro Barranco, R., Bertoni, E., Curtale, R. et al., Exploring the nexus of housing, tourism, and local liveability – Insights from Paris, Milan, and Rome, Iodice, S., Ribeiro Barranco, R. and van Heerden, S. (eds), Publications Office of the European Union, 2025, data.europa.eu/doi/10.2760/8602103
13European Parliament: Directorate-General for Cohesion, Agriculture and Social Policies, Gaušas, S., Leiputė, B., Christenko, A., Langham, E. et al., Role of the longevity economy in the tourism sector – Research for TRAN Committee, European Parliament, 2025, data.europa.eu/doi/10.2861/1599872
14European Commission: Directorate-General for Energy, Repurposing mines for tourism and culture – A combined case study of transformation examples from Dolní oblast Vítkovice mine in Ostrava, Czechia and Golpa-Nord in Lusatia, Germany – Case study, Publications Office of the European Union, 2025, data.europa.eu/doi/10.2833/9108193
15European Committee of the Regions: Commission for Natural Resources, Marcinkowska, I., Maj, A. and Sidło, K., Tourism and rural development, European Committee of the Regions, 2024, data.europa.eu/doi/10.2863/099682
16European Commission: Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs, Jobs and skills in tourism – Helpful EU resources for jobseekers and businesses, Publications Office of the European Union, 2024, data.europa.eu/doi/10.2873/33904
