10. Align Investment, Regulation and Incentives with Sustainable Outcomes
Sardinia has significant opportunities to finance tourism-related investment, but funding should not reward expansion in isolation. Public finance, planning approvals, tourism incentives and business-support programmes should consistently favour projects that reduce environmental pressure, improve accessibility, create quality employment, protect nature and generate local value.
The Regional ERDF programme for 2021–2027 has a total allocation of approximately €1.58 billion. It includes €44 million for strengthening culture and sustainable tourism in economic development, social inclusion and social innovation, as well as more than €220 million under the priority for integrated urban and territorial development, including culture, natural heritage, sustainable tourism and safety. This provides a substantial basis for strategic alignment.[old.sardegnaprogrammazione]
Problem
Investment decisions can unintentionally deepen existing pressures. For example, new accommodation may increase water demand in already constrained areas; coastal infrastructure may weaken dunes or increase flood exposure; incentives may support seasonal low-wage activity without improving workforce housing or skills; and destination marketing may stimulate demand where infrastructure and ecological capacity are already exceeded.
A sustainable strategy needs a different test for public support: not “Will this attract more visitors?” but “Will this improve destination resilience, resident wellbeing, ecological condition and locally retained value?”
Investment principle
Adopt a Do More Good, Do No Harm framework for tourism-related investment. Every publicly supported project should:
- Demonstrate compliance with environmental, planning, accessibility and labour requirements.
- Avoid increasing material pressure on water-stressed, climate-exposed or ecologically sensitive locations without credible mitigation.
- Deliver measurable public value beyond private commercial gain.
- Show how benefits will reach local workers, suppliers, communities, culture or conservation.
- Monitor outcomes after completion, with support conditional on transparent reporting.
Proposed direction
Create a Sustainable Tourism Investment Framework that applies consistent eligibility, scoring and monitoring criteria across grants, investment contracts, public-realm projects, marketing support and destination-development programmes.
Priority measures should include:
- Introduce a sustainability-screening requirement for all material tourism investments, covering water, energy, waste, mobility, climate exposure, biodiversity, accessibility, housing and workforce implications.
- Make public support conditional on baseline data, measurable targets and post-investment reporting.
- Prioritise refurbishment, adaptive reuse, energy and water retrofits, heritage restoration and upgrading of existing accommodation before greenfield expansion.
- Reward projects that reduce per-guest resource use, extend the operating season, create quality employment and purchase from local suppliers.
- Give additional weighting to projects in under-served areas only where ecological capacity, transport, community support and service readiness have been demonstrated.
- Use concession, licensing and public-procurement rules to reduce single-use materials, improve accessibility, protect coastlines and require fair labour practices.
- Support shared infrastructure that benefits multiple businesses and residents: water-reuse systems, low-impact mobility, waste prevention, accessible public spaces, trail maintenance, visitor information and climate adaptation.
- Establish dedicated finance and technical assistance for small and medium-sized enterprises, which may lack the capacity to prepare complex sustainability investments.
- Create blended-finance mechanisms, loan guarantees or revolving funds for energy efficiency, renewable generation, water resilience, circular systems and accessible upgrades.
- Ring-fence a proportion of visitor-derived revenue—where such charges are introduced—for conservation, public services, community projects and destination-management capacity.
Funding routes
The framework should coordinate rather than duplicate existing programmes.
| Funding route | Strategic use |
|---|---|
| PR Sardegna FESR 2021–2027 | Sustainable tourism, cultural and natural heritage, accessibility, innovation, integrated territorial development and resilience investment |
| Regional investment contracts | Larger tourism-accommodation investments screened against sustainability, employment and local-value criteria |
| Municipal and destination budgets | Public realm, visitor management, mobility, maintenance, accessibility and service capacity |
| National and EU programmes | Climate adaptation, biodiversity, rural development, skills, inclusion, digitalisation and circular economy |
| Private capital and finance | Accommodation retrofits, renewable energy, water efficiency, low-impact mobility and business innovation |
| Visitor-revenue mechanisms | Conservation, restoration, ranger services, waste management, local transport and site maintenance |
The Region’s 2025 investment-call framework already included tourism-accommodation proposals under PR FESR 2021–2027 investment contracts. Future calls should explicitly include the full sustainability and public-value criteria outlined above, rather than treating them as secondary commitments.[regione.sardegna]
Selection criteria
Projects should be assessed using a transparent weighted scorecard.
| Assessment area | Illustrative questions |
|---|---|
| Environmental resilience | Does the project reduce water, energy, emissions and waste intensity? Is it appropriate for local climate and ecosystem risk? |
| Nature and landscape | Does it avoid habitat damage, respect coastal and landscape character, and contribute to restoration where relevant? |
| Social inclusion | Is it accessible, safe and beneficial for residents, workers and diverse visitor groups? |
| Economic quality | Does it create year-round value, local procurement, quality work and viable small-business opportunities? |
| Place fit | Is it consistent with local capacity, transport, housing, infrastructure and community priorities? |
| Delivery credibility | Are the baseline, funding plan, skills, permits, timeline and monitoring arrangements robust? |
Relevant stakeholders
Regional Departments of Tourism, Planning, Environment, Economic Development, Labour, Culture and Social Policies; Centro Regionale di Programmazione; municipalities; destination-management organisations; public utilities; banks and ethical-finance providers; tourism businesses; chambers of commerce; universities; worker representatives; community and environmental organisations.
Possible indicators
| Indicator | Suggested measurement |
|---|---|
| Sustainable allocation | Share of tourism-related public investment screened and approved under the framework |
| Resource efficiency | Water, energy, emissions and residual-waste reduction per guest-night from supported projects |
| Climate and nature resilience | Projects meeting climate-risk, biodiversity and landscape criteria; habitat restored or protected |
| Inclusion | Accessible rooms, facilities, routes and services created or upgraded |
| Local value | Local procurement, local ownership, quality jobs and year-round employment supported |
| Leverage | Private capital mobilised per euro of public funding |
| Compliance | Share of projects completing post-investment monitoring and meeting agreed targets |
| Public benefit | Visitor-revenue funds reinvested in conservation, community services and destination management |
Delivery horizon
Immediate. Apply the framework first to new regional tourism calls and investment contracts, then align municipal grants, public procurement and destination programmes. Within two years, publish a portfolio-level assessment showing not only expenditure and projects funded, but the environmental, social and economic outcomes achieved.