THE Commonwealth will be receiving $1,440,640 to enhance its tourist sites and workforce training, as well as put together an updated tourism plan, Secretary of Finance David DLG Atalig said on Thursday.
The Office of Planning and Development, under the direction of Director Kodep Ogumoro-Uludong, applied for this grant with the U.S. Economic Development Administration, or EDA.
U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina M. Raimondo recently announced that the EDA is awarding $196 million in American Rescue Plan Travel, Tourism, and Outdoor Recreation state grants to 24 states and insular areas, including the CNMI.
These funds are the second of two batches, with 34 states and the District of Columbia receiving a total of $114 million in the first batch last month.
Through the American Rescue Plan Act, $750 million was allocated to the Travel, Tourism, & Outdoor Recreation program, which includes $510 million in state tourism grants.
State tourism grants are non-competitive awards to help states quickly invest in marketing, infrastructure, workforce, and other projects to rejuvenate safe leisure, business, and international travel.
These projects vary in scope within each state and territory based on needs on a local level.
State tourism grants are direct award allocations to states and territories, driven by leisure and hospitality economic indicators.
EDA sent official letters to governors of each state, territory, and the District of Columbia inviting them to apply for these grants.
Governors were then required to apply within 60 days of the invitation, or designate a state agency or eligible entity to receive the grant.
States can spend the awards themselves and/or competitively sub-award funds.
Eligible uses of these grants must support the travel, tourism, and outdoor recreation sectors, as well as be consistent with safe travel guidelines from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The eligible uses are tourism marketing and promotion; workforce training; economic development planning and coordination; technical assistance projects; upgrades or retrofits to existing travel, tourism, and outdoor recreation infrastructure; and new infrastructure projects that lead to long-term increases in tourist activity, and that require additional environmental review to be approved.
All awards to states for state tourism grants will be made at a 100% grant rate. No matching funds are required.
The Travel, Tourism, & Outdoor Recreation program also includes $240 million in competitive tourism grants for states and territories.
These particular grants will be awarded to advance the economic recovery and resiliency of communities where the travel, tourism, and outdoor recreation industries were hardest hit by the coronavirus pandemic.
State and local tourism promotion and marketing projects are not eligible under the competitive tourism grants component.
However, country-wide or multi-state travel, tourism, or outdoor recreation promotion activities are eligible for funding.
EDA expects to fund at least 80% of project costs through the competitive tourism grants, but may increase the federal share up to 100% on a case-by-case basis depending on whether the circumstances of the proposed project warrant a federal share in excess of 80%.
This excess includes whether the applicant has exhausted its effective taxing or borrowing capacity; the extent of the economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the region’s travel, tourism, and outdoor recreation; or whether the region meets other thresholds for elevated need based on the relative economic distress of the region.
Projects providing higher levels of match may be more competitive.
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