TIRANA, April 4/ATA/ Minister of Tourism and Environment Mirela Kumbaro invited today tourism professionals to apply to the Tourism Innovation Platform TIP4CE, to contribute to the sustainable development of the tourism sector in Albania. This platform brings innovation to tourism experiences or products, but this time by implementing best practices for waste reduction and management. In a post in the social media, Kumbaro invites people to apply to TIP4CE, a platform that, according to her, “rewards all tourism professionals who have an idea to create environmentally friendly tourism products that respect the sustainable offer”. Through a competitive process, TIP4CE will identify and support the most promising ideas that combine tourism services or products with the principles of the Circular Economy, with the aim of optimizing resources and minimizing waste. A jury composed of experts of the field will evaluate the competing projects and ideas. Pre-selected applicants will benefit from personalized mentoring throughout all phases of the competition, to best prepare for the final presentation (Demo-Day), from which the winning ideas will be selected and will be funded with up to 15,000 euros to realize their ideas. TIP4CE aims to develop new tourism experiences and products or improve tourist satisfaction, including elements of the circular economy in tourism. This platform also aims to minimize waste that is not properly managed, by encouraging the use of regenerative business models and promoting the efficient use of resources in the tourism industry. Another goal of TIP4CE is to strengthen awareness of sustainable practices and environmental protection, by promoting cooperation between industry actors to implement innovative and sustainable solutions. /k.s//a.f//r.e/p.s./