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SMEs want to become more sustainable but lack a clear path and someone to walk it with them. Banking is uniquely positioned to fill that role, and Crédito Agrícola's Sustainable Tourism Acceleration Programme is proof that it works. Two editions, 25 companies supported, and a one-to-many model that scales beyond direct participants. Applications for the 3rd edition are now open.
**Learn about the programme →**
If you ask a tourism SME to describe its sustainability strategy, you will almost always hear the same answer. There is intention, but a lack of clarity on where and how to begin.
Finance is one of the main accelerators of the sustainable transition. And so banking, as the primary source of capital for Portuguese SMEs, is naturally one of the central partners in that process. However, the effectiveness of that partnership depends on the ability of companies to access and make use of the sustainable products available. As long as SMEs cannot measure what they do or communicate their progress, financial instruments arrive ahead of time. Crédito Agrícola and Maze created the Sustainable Tourism Acceleration Programme to fill this gap.
According to a study by ISQ and UHY published in January 2026, only 5% of Portuguese companies use sustainable finance instruments. The main obstacle is a lack of awareness and capacity to use them, particularly among smaller companies. At the same time, banks are being progressively required to report the share of green loans in their portfolios, which means they will increasingly request ESG information from the companies they finance. SMEs that are unprepared to respond risk losing access to capital.
The Sustainable Tourism Acceleration Programme gives tourism SMEs the opportunity to remain competitive in accessing finance. Over two editions, 25 companies were supported through a structured process of diagnosis, measurement and reporting, with training sessions, individual mentoring and practical tools. The result was 17 sustainability reports produced and the capacity built within each of those companies to continue this journey independently. The model was designed to scale beyond direct participants, following a one-to-many approach. The learnings from each edition are consolidated into a freely accessible Practical Guide, available to any SME in the sector that wants to take this path independently. Since its publication, the guide has recorded more than 500 views.
For many of the participating companies, writing the first report revealed practices that already existed but had never been organised or measured: waste separation, preference for local suppliers, community initiatives, gardens with native vegetation, among many others. The process of preparing a report organises what already exists, requires quantifying social and environmental performance, identifies what is missing and helps define priorities.