RICHMOND — Kicking off National Travel and Tourism Week, Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced that more than $3.27 million in matching grants and sponsorship funds will be awarded to 268 tourism programs, including several local organizations, as part of the Virginia Tourism Corporation’s Marketing Grants Program.
The financial assistance program is aimed at increasing visitor numbers and tourist spending by 2025 by combining local marketing funds with state funds, according to the governor’s office.
This funding cycle saw local partners match VTC funding with more than $9.2 million to support new marketing and events focused on increasing overnight visits to Virginia across all nine GO Virginia regions. Provides more than $12.5 million for production activities.
The funding will be awarded to 268 marketing programs, ultimately impacting a total of 1,230 partners, according to the governor’s office.
“VTC’s marketing and sponsorship program is a powerful incentive to build tourism partnerships across Virginia, which is a strong part of our state’s economic ecosystem,” Youngkin said. “Across Virginia, the tourism industry 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 of additional visitors to Virginia to experience all that makes our state special.”
The VTC’s tourism marketing and sponsorship program aims to leverage limited marketing funds to increase visitor spending, stimulate new tourism marketing through partnerships and expand the “Virginia is for Lovers” brand to drive visitation, the governor’s office said.
Using a hub-and-spoke tourism partnership model, Virginia organizations will partner together to apply for funding. Partners can include Virginia cities, towns, counties, convention and tourism bureaus, chambers of commerce, other local or regional tourism marketing organizations, museums, attractions, cultural events, and other tourism-related nonprofits and private businesses.
The company added that various grant programs support marketing and event production costs for Virginia’s tourism marketing organizations and established special events and festivals in Virginia.
Locally, the following programs received grant funding through this initiative:
The Jamestown Yorktown Foundation’s “Military Through the Ages” program was awarded $6,570, Silver Hand Meadery was awarded $9,750 for the Virginia Mead Trail. Williamsburg Farmers Market, Farm to Market was awarded $4,387.50. Williamsburg Arts Opportunities was awarded $13,140. “York County Tourism/Visit Yorktown, Yorktown Adventures: An All-Encompassing Waterfront Destination Steeped in History” won for $30,244.50. Visit Yorktown, Yorktown Tea Party received $6,570.
“The VTC grant program continues to inject critical funding into communities across the commonwealth, helping to make Virginia a great place to live, work, and raise a family,” said Karen Merrick, Secretary of Commerce and Trade. “There is,” he said. “The tourism industry has seen tremendous employment growth for high school and college students, part-time workers, and people interested in long-term hospitality careers. From kitchen line cooks to regional executive hotel managers. These funds support a strong hospitality workforce by stimulating demand for tourism and increasing guest numbers.”
