To kick off National Travel and Tourism Week, Governor Glenn Youngkin today announced that 268 tourism programs will be awarded more than $3.27 million in matching grants and sponsorship funds as part of the Virginia Tourism Authority’s Marketing Grants Program. did.
These funding programs are designed to leverage local marketing funds and matching state funds to increase visitation and visitor spending through 2025. This funding cycle, local partners committed more than $9.2 million to match VTC funds and provide more than $12.5 million in new marketing and funding. Event production activities focused on increasing overnight visitor numbers to Virginia across all nine GO Virginia regions. The funding was awarded to 268 marketing programs, ultimately impacting 1,230 integrated partner companies.
“The VTC marketing and sponsorship program is a powerful incentive that creates tourism partnerships across Virginia, which is a solid part of Virginia’s economic ecosystem,” said Governor Glenn Youngkin. “The tourism industry across the Commonwealth recognizes the importance of having creative strategies to showcase all that Virginia has to offer. These grants will support those efforts and help bring thousands more visitors to the Commonwealth to experience everything that makes Virginia special.”
VTC’s Tourism Marketing and Sponsorship Program is designed to leverage limited marketing budgets to increase visitor spending, stimulate new tourism marketing through partnerships, and expand the “Virginia is the City of Lovers” brand to increase visitor numbers. Using a hub-and-spoke tourism partnership model, Virginia organizations partner up to apply for funding. Partners can include Virginia cities, towns, counties, convention and visitor bureaus, chambers of commerce, other local or regional tourism marketing organizations, museums, attractions, cultural events, and other tourism-related nonprofit and private businesses.
These various grant programs support marketing and event production costs for Virginia tourism marketing organizations and established special events and festivals in Virginia.
The Marketing Leverage Program is a reimbursable grant program to leverage existing marketing funds available to Virginia’s travel industry partners, including small businesses, DMOs, private attractions, accommodations, and events. The Virginia DMO Grant Program is awarded to DMOs for marketing expenses that demonstrate a positive and significant economic impact on tourism and must include a marketing plan to promote visitation to Virginia. The Virginia Special Events & Festivals Program is for the marketing and production of Virginia-based special events and festivals taking place in 2024. These events must have a minimum of two years of participation since 2017 and meet minimum participation levels.
“The VTC grant program continues to pump critical funding into communities across Virginia, helping to make Virginia a great place to live, work, and raise a family,” said Karen Merrick, Secretary of Commerce and Trade. said. “The tourism industry provides an excellent employment gateway for high school and college students, part-time workers, and those interested in long-term careers in the hospitality industry. The funding supports a strong workforce in the hospitality industry by stimulating tourism demand and increasing guest numbers.”
VTC plans to open a grant round for the Microbusiness Marketing Leverage Program, aimed at supporting fall and winter marketing efforts by tourism-oriented small businesses and organizations, such as Main Street organizations, in summer 2024. Another round of the Virginia Special Events and Festivals Program will launch in mid-2024 for events held in 2025. The next rounds of the Marketing Leverage Program and Virginia DMO Marketing Grant Program will open in February 2025. To apply for these grant opportunities, visit vatc.org/grants for more information.
A complete list of all grant program funders can be found here.
