Benchmarking of business support for INTERREG IIIC Partners

This project involved research and policy advice for the Interreg IIIC project TouriSME - 'Tourism and SMEs for Sustainable and Balanced Development'. The study was undertaken on behalf of a partnership of business development organisations in four regions: North East England, Valencia, Limburg and Sachsen Anhalt. Two comparative studies were undertaken, focused on Business support services, and Exports/internationalisation of regional businesses. Each study aimed to benchmark relevant support services in each region, to allow relative strengths and weaknesses to be identified and highlight potential opportunities for the implementation of new approaches and joint concepts. The content of subsequent project activities will be established on the basis of the benchmark results.