The General Directorate for Tourism of the Ministry of the Economy can award capital grants to encourage investments aimed at developing the national tourism infrastructure.

Who is concerned

Eligible persons

The eligible persons are:

• communal authorities;
• associations of communes;
• associations responsible for the development and management of natural parks;
• non-profit organisations and foundations involved in the promotion of tourism; and
• economic interest groups that promote tourism at national level.

Investments concerned

Grants may be awarded for investments concerning:

1. the creation, development, modernisation and equipment:
   • a) of recreational or leisure facilities with tourist appeal;
   • b) tourist reception or information facilities;
   • c) tourist accommodation which serves a general economic interest and related catering or drinking facilities;
2. the development and equipment of tourist sites;
3. the equipment of public places with high tourist traffic;
4. the conservation and touristic development of the natural, historical and cultural material heritage;
5. the development and acquisition of digital tools for tourism;
6. the preparation of studies, concepts and strategies for tourism.

Excluded investments

No grants can be awarded:

• for a building to be erected on land owned by a company or an individual; or
• for work to be carried out in buildings owned by a company or an individual.

However, a grant may be awarded if the land or building concerned is subject to a lease agreement concluded for a minimum of 20 years.

Deadlines

For projects with a total cost of more than EUR 60,000 excluding VAT, your application must be submitted before the start of work.

The start of work means:

• the beginning of construction works in relation with the investment;
• the first legally binding commitment to order equipment; or
• any other commitment that makes the investment irreversible, depending on which occurs first.

How to proceed

Filing an application

You must send a duly completed application for a grant to the General Directorate for Tourism using the online form provided for this purpose on the MyGuichet.lu platform (see 'Forms / Online services').

Should the attachments to the application be too large to upload, you can opt for one of these 2 additional ways to send attachments:

• by email to the following address: aides.tourisme@eco.etat.lu.
• by post to the following address:

Ministère de l’Économie
Direction générale du tourisme
Aides financières et comptabilité
B.P. 86
L-2937 Luxembourg

Supporting documents

Your reasoned application must be addressed to the Minister in writing and include the following information and documents:

• your contact details, together with the articles of association if you represent a non-profit organisation, a foundation or an economic interest group;
• a detailed description of the project as well as information about the target audience and the conditions of access or use;
• if applicable, the lease agreement (of a minimum duration of 20 years);
• the site plan and, if applicable, the construction plans;
• the total project cost, accompanied by cost estimates and supplemented by a breakdown of eligible costs;
• a financing plan as well as any other type of local, national or European co-financing requested or obtained;
• a business plan if applicable;
• the anticipated start and end dates of the project.

The Minister may obtain any information deemed relevant to the project to be funded and request other information, such as statistical data on visitors and an inventory of similar infrastructures in the nearby area.

Amount of aid

The grant amount per project may not exceed:

• 50 % of eligible costs for investments, including projects for the creation, development, modernisation and equipment of youth hostels and unusual accommodation;
• 20 % of eligible costs for other tourist accommodation projects.

Special grants

The Government may, at the suggestion of the Minister responsible for Tourism, award grants at a rate that exceeds the set limits if the project is deemed to be of national interest.

Cumulation rules

Grants awarded on the basis of this aid may be combined with other public aid but may not exceed 100 % of the eligible cost. For tourist accommodation projects other than youth hostels and unusual accommodation, the cumulative amount may not exceed 20 % of the eligible cost.

Payment

Except in exceptional and duly justified circumstances, the beneficiary of the grant must submit a final account statement to the Minister within a maximum of 2 years from the completion of the project, accompanied by the following documents:

• a complete list of all invoices related to the project;
• copies of the invoices and proof of payment;
• photos that document the implementation of the project.

The grant may be paid in instalments as work progresses. The final instalment, which represents at least 10% of the total amount of the grant awarded, is paid on presentation of the abovementioned final account statement.

Repayment

Beneficiaries lose all or part of the grant awarded to them if, before the expiry of a period of:

• 10 years after the grant is awarded; or
• 20 years after the grant is awarded, if the grant was awarded for the acquisition of land or a building, or for the construction of a building;

the subsidised assets are no longer used or are used for purposes other than the purposes for which they were intended at the time of the awarding of the grant.

In these cases, beneficiaries must reimburse:

• the full amount of the grant awarded on that date if the end of the operation occurs before the expiry of half of the applicable period of 10 or 20 years;
• half of the grant awarded if the end of the operation occurs after the expiry of half of the applicable period of 10 or 20 years. The amount to be repaid is reduced by one-tenth or one-twentieth of the grant for each 12-month period after the expiry of half of the applicable period.

The Minister may waive repayment if the end of the operation is the result of circumstances beyond the beneficiary's control or force majeure.

The Minister may also demand the repayment of all or part of the grant awarded if the beneficiary fails to comply with one or more of the obligations relating to the submission of the final account statement.

Forms / Online services

Who to contact