Over the past months, the MAST PLUS team has been diligently working on establishing the foundations for effective pilot testing and results that can support accommodation businesses across the Mediterranean.
For small and medium-sized accommodation providers, putting sustainability into practice depends on available resources, local infrastructure, regulatory requirements and access to expertise. Understanding these conditions is essential to ensuring that the solutions being tested respond to businesses’ operational realities.This work brought partners together in Athens on 15–16 October 2026 for the consortium meeting hosted by the European Public Law Organization (EPLO). Partners reviewed the documents under development, addressed outstanding questions and consolidated the approach that will guide pilot implementation.
The preparation connects three essential areas: mapping stakeholders and selecting accommodation SMEs with different needs and sustainability experience; fine-tuning the Sustainability Protocol and Self-Assessment Tool for the pilot territories; and defining a common methodology for testing, collecting feedback and comparing findings across different settings.
Together, these activities establish the behavioural and methodological foundations for meaningful validation. They will help MAST PLUS partners understand what enables businesses to adopt sustainable practices, distinguish local constraints from limitations in the tools, and identify the adaptations needed for wider application.
For the accommodation sector, the purpose is practical: to test whether the MAST Sustainability Solution helps businesses assess their current practices, identify priorities and make informed decisions about their sustainability journey.
As MAST PLUS prepares for testing with at least 50 accommodation SMEs, we invite accommodation providers, tourism associations, sustainability experts and business support organisations to follow the next stages and explore opportunities to contribute.
