Yesterday, the Economic Development Administration (EDA) released its Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for destinations to secure American Recovery Plan Act funding. Through its Travel, Tourism, and Outdoor Recreation Grants, destinations now have access to $750M in dedicated funding to help recover job and economic losses in tourism and outdoor recreation, broken down into two major grant groups: State Tourism Grants and Competitive Grants.
State Tourism Grants include $510 million in non-competitive awards to help states quickly invest in marketing, infrastructure, workforce and other projects to rejuvenate safe leisure, business and international travel. Eligible applicants, such as state governors, will be sent a formal invitation to apply.
Competitive Grants include $240 million to help communities that have been hardest hit by challenges facing the travel, tourism and outdoor recreation sectors to invest in infrastructure, workforce or other projects to support the recovery of the industry and economic resilience of the community in the future.
EDA-suggested application submission date for Competitive Grants: January 31, 2022
While there are no application submission deadlines for Competitive Tourism Grants, EDA encourages applicants to submit as soon as possible.
Eligible applicants for Competitive Grants include:
- Public or private non-profit organizations or associations acting in cooperation with officials of a political subdivision of a State, including destination marketing organizations.
- District Organization of an EDA-designated Economic Development District.
- Indian Tribe or a consortium of Indian Tribes.
- State, county, city, or other political subdivision of a State, including a special purpose unit of a State or local government engaged in economic or infrastructure development activities, or a consortium of political subdivisions.
- Institution of higher education or a consortium of institutions of higher education.
For more information, view the Notice of Funding Opportunity here.
Upcoming Webinar: How to Participate in the $3 Billion Investing in America’s Communities Grant Opportunities
Wednesday, August 11 at 1:00pm EDT
In partnership with Civitas, Destinations International will host an educational webinar to discuss the Tourism NOFO and how destinations can best capitalize on this tremendous resource. Register >
As the leading firm in destination funding, Civitas can help guide your organization through the EDA application process. If you would like more information about applying for an EDA grant, please don’t hesitate to reach out to our team, as we are happy to help.
