European Center for Quality Ltd. is a consulting company founded in 2001. It specializes in the development and implementation of international projects linking enterprises and educational institutions, as well as in the implementation of international standards for quality management. It works in close cooperation with municipalities, business associations, chambers of commerce, research centres and NGOs. ECQ has developed and implemented projects for over 100 enterprises, 13 municipal projects, over 15 projects under Lifelong Learning Programme and 13 more recent Erasmus+ projects. Since 2008, ECQ also participates in Intelligent Energy Europe. ECQ has participated in several Erasmus+ projects in the field of sustainable tourism. Some of these include:

– Quality Management Approach for Sustainable Tourism (2013), aimed to develop a blended learning tool for education and training in sustainable tourism; 

– Sustainable Tourism through Networking and Collaboration (2017), aimed to enhance the sustainability performance of EU micro and small enterprises in the tourism sector. 

– Innovation for Accessible Tourism in Natural and Rural Areas (2019), aimed to build capacity of EU SMEs in natural and rural areas to bridge accessibility gaps through stakeholder co-design of innovative solutions for tourism products for customers with specific access requirements.

ECQ works in close collaboration with the Bulgarian Association for Alternative Tourism, that encourages and supports partnerships for the sustainable development of tourism at a regional and local level. The competences that ECQ will bring to the project include:

– experience in quality assurance and stakeholder management in the frame of project activities;

– existing partnerships with tourism associations, companies, VET providers, universities;

– expertise in sustainable business practices applicable to tourism enterprises;

– expertise in European policies in the field of education and training and SMEs.