Travel Nevada awards $1 million to rural communities for tourism promotion
CARSON CITY, Nevada — The Nevada Commission on Tourism (NCOT) on Monday approved $1,006,203 in grant funding to rural communities to promote tourism through marketing projects. Among the projects funded through the Rural Marketing Grants:
- A $10,000 grant was awarded to the Laughlin Tourism Commission to promote the Laughlin Laugh Fest comedy festival. Grant funds will offset professional film production for live streaming and a comedy special.
- A $15,000 award was given to Pony Express Territory, the organization representing communities along the U.S. 50 corridor, to provide new creative for its ongoing advertising campaign. The updated campaign focuses on everything to do along U.S. 50, also known as “The Loneliest Road in America,” and will focus on each community along the highway.
- A $20,000 grant was allotted to the Carson Valley Visitors Authority to support a multi-media campaign in northern California. The campaign will expand on Carson Valley’s current Legends campaign featuring personalities of the region.
Tourism is crucial to Nevada — it is the state’s largest export industry. Tourism enjoys a high profile in urban Las Vegas and Reno, but Nevada’s rural communities also depend on this industry. About 27,870 rural Nevada jobs are attributed to tourism; overall travel spending in rural Nevada is $2.3 billion.
The Nevada Division of Tourism (Travel Nevada) supports rural tourism through its Rural Marketing Grants program. Grants — approved by NCOT, Travel Nevada’s oversight commission — are awarded twice per year. Funding is disbursed in the form of reimbursements to the recipients after the projected are completed and documented; this current distribution is the first for FY19.
For a complete list of grant recipients by territory (regional tourism promotion organizations), click here.
The Nevada Division of Tourism is a division of the Nevada Department of Tourism and Cultural Affairs. More commonly known as Travel Nevada, the Nevada Division of Tourism is responsible for promoting and marketing Nevada as a travel destination to domestic and international travelers. Operating within a performance-based budget structure, Travel Nevada is funded solely by a percentage of lodging tax paid by overnight guests throughout the state. For more, visit TravelNevada.biz.
