Earlier this week, Governor Andy Beshear and Tourism, Arts and Heritage Cabinet Secretary Mike Berry announced that applications are now being accepted from tourism and destination marketing organizations eligible for portions of $5.3 million in ARPA funds — which have been administered as a matching grant.
Among those eligible include counties with tourism commissions and organizations, which in the NewsEdge listening area includes Trigg, Christian, Caldwell, Lyon, Todd and Hopkins counties.
Each tourism commission that has participated in the Kentucky Department of Travel matching funds program will qualify to receive these funds, which must only be used for marketing and advertising purposes — and distributions will be based on respective county shares of the overall tourism and economic impact reports officially filed in 2019.
Tourism is an $8.9 billion industry in the Commonwealth that supports the growth of rural and urban communities in Kentucky. Throughout the pandemic, Kentucky officials invested more than $13 million in the tourism industry to promote safe travel and stay-cations, with the use of new marketing campaigns.
This unlock of ARPA funding is congruous with a $200 million, one-time infusion of money from the General Fund and into Kentucky’s State Parks system — which is in need of dire repair following years of backdated projects, and its most recent use as triage during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic and the December 10 and 11 western Kentucky tornadoes.
Beshear’s budget also dedicates another $10 million in ARPA funds to boost Kentucky’s tourism industry through a targeted marketing campaign, as well as another $10 million for non-profit arts organizations.
Berry noted the pandemic has significantly impacted both the arts and tourism industries in Kentucky, and that his cabinet is “committed to supporting partners, by seeking investments that will directly foster economic recovery, and allow communities to attract visitors to [the state].”