Tourists’ Projects Co-Financed by the European Union in Poland in the years 2007-2020

Tourism constitutes one of the most important sectors of the European economy, and tourist initiatives co-financed by the European Union promote entrepreneurship as well as socio-economic development. However, there is a lack of EU financial instruments fully oriented towards tourism projects, which makes it difficult to apply for these funds, and the conversion of the funding axis in Poland results in additional restrictions on the financing of the tourism sector, which affects possibilities for the implementation of tourism projects.   The aim of this article is to present changes in the structure of projects co-financed by the EU on the example of the Malopolska region, with a particular focus on tourism projects. The time range of the research covers the EU programming periods of 2007-2013 and 2014-2020.  Entities seeking support for tourism projects have the opportunity to apply for support in categories not directly dedicated to the tourism sector, which is clearly reflected in reducing the importance of tourism projects in their general number both throughout Poland and in the Malopolska region.  It appears, however, that today’s dominant projects are the most important in improving the quality of human capital, stimulating entrepreneurship and accelerating the growth and innovation of companies, thus contributing to the development of the knowledge economy.