Governor Terry McAuliffe has announced that $927,000 in matching grant funds will be awarded to 43 local tourism initiatives as part of Virginia Tourism Corporation’s (VTC) Marketing Leverage Program (MLP), his office said Tuesday.
The grants are designed to help local and regional tourism entities attract more visitors by leveraging local marketing dollars, and will ultimately impact at least 159 other statewide tourism entities.
Under the Marketing Leverage Program, local organizations must match state grant funds by a minimum of two to one to support marketing projects in order to receive funding. This funding cycle, local partners will match VTC grant dollars with more than $2.3 million, providing more than $3.2 million in new marketing efforts to increase visitation to Virginia.
“The grants offered by the Virginia Tourism Corporation’s Marketing Leverage Program provide tourism businesses with a powerful funding resource to market themselves to travelers both across the United States and internationally,” said Governor McAuliffe.
“These funds provide localities and businesses across the Commonwealth with the necessary resources to continue to attract visitors and increase demand for Virginia products in the global marketplace. We will continue to support and expand our tourism outreach to spur growth for our communities and small businesses as we build the new Virginia economy.”
The program is designed to increase visitor spending by leveraging limited marketing dollars, stimulating new tourism marketing through partnerships, and extending the “Virginia is for Lovers” brand. A minimum of three Virginia entities must partner financially to apply for a grant. Partners may consist of Virginia cities, towns, counties, convention and visitors bureaus, chambers of commerce, other local or regional destination marketing organizations, private businesses, museums, attractions, cultural events, and other tourism-related entities. In total, VTC awards approximately $1.9 million annually – matched and leveraged, on average, three to one by partner dollars.
“These grants are significant for the Virginia tourism industry, as more than 70 percent of tourism businesses have annual marketing budgets of less than $10,000,” said Secretary of Commerce and Trade Todd Haymore, according to a statement.
“Every dollar invested in these grants resulted in $16 of direct visitor spending. Additionally, marketing campaigns receiving MLP grant funds increased visitation by 15 percent. This kind of effective marketing results in more travelers coming to Virginia to stay longer and spend more money, injecting critical dollars into our economy.”
