Rural Tourism Infrastructure Fund - Round 4 Open!

What is the Rural Tourism Infrastructure Fund?

The Rural Tourism Infrastructure Fund was established by the Scottish Government and Fund is managed by VisitScotland on their behalf. To date, £9 million of grant funding has been awarded to 45 projects across rural Scotland, since the start of the Fund in 2018. 

RTIF is designed to support collaborative projects that focus on improving the visitor experience in rural parts of Scotland that are facing immediate and damaging pressures on their infrastructure, or negative impacts on communities due to significant increases in visitor numbers - especially as the industry moves in to the recovery phase of the STERG National Action Plan. 

Round 4 of RTIF is now open for applications which will provide focused investment, stimulate collaboration and support the work of the Scottish Tourism Recovery Taskforce (STRT) and the Visitor Management Steering Group as part of COVID-19 recovery process. 

RTIF Round 4 | Application process

RTIF has a two stage application process and all applicants must submit an initial Expression of Interest application:

1. Expression of Interest - The stage 1 Expressions of Interest assessment is based on the limited information submitted on the EOI and enables a basic eligibility check
   to be undertaken by VisitScotland and some feedback to be given to applicants. All projects must submit
   an Expression of Interest by 5pm on Friday 13 August 2021.
2. Full application - applicants will have 16 weeks from the notification of approved EOIs to develop their stage 2 application which must be submitted by Wednesday 1 September 2021. 

Only EOIs which have been approved are invited to submit a stage two application. 

Design grants of up to £5,000 are available for projects, but to qualify for the design grant we must have received your Expression of Interest application by Friday 30 April 2021.    

Please read the guidance document in full for eligibility criteria before submitting an Expression of Interest. 

Once completed, send your application form to [email protected] by 5pm on Friday 13 August 2021. 

The application form can downloaded at https://www.visitscotland.org/supporting-your-business/funding/rural-tourism-infrastructure-fund