RICHMOND — To kick off National Travel and Tourism Week, Governor Glenn Youngkin announced more than $3.27 million in matching grants and sponsorships to 268 tourism programs, including multiple local organizations, as part of the Virginia Tourism Authority's Marketing Grants Program It was announced that the funds would be awarded.
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, local partners have committed more than $9.2 million to match VTC funds, providing more than $12.5 million in new marketing and event production activities focused on increasing overnight visitor numbers to Virginia across all nine GO Virginia regions.
According to the Governor's office, the funding will be awarded to 268 marketing programs, ultimately impacting a total of 1,230 partners.
“VTC’s marketing and sponsorship program is a powerful incentive to build tourism partnerships across Virginia that are a strong part of Virginia’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 It will help bring thousands of additional visitors to Virginia to experience everything that makes Virginia special.”
According to the Governor's Office, the 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 promote visitation by expanding the “Virginia is the City of Lovers” brand.
Using a hub-and-spoke tourism partnership model, Virginia entities will partner together to apply for funding. Partners are made up of Virginia cities, towns, counties, convention and visitor bureaus, chambers of commerce, other local or regional destination marketing organizations, museums, attractions, cultural events, and other tourism-related nonprofit 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 the initiative:
- $6,570 was awarded to the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation's Military Through the Ages program.
- Silver Hand Meadery was awarded $9,750 for the Virginia Mead Trail.
- Williamsburg Farmers Market, Farm to Market Raises $4,387.50
- Arts Opportunities in Williamsburg was awarded $13,140.
- York County Tourism/Yorktown Tourism, “Adventures in Yorktown: An Inclusive Waterfront Destination Steeped in History,” was awarded $30,244.50.
- Visit Yorktown, Yorktown Tea Party was awarded $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.”
