Ohio is set to receive $ 6.6 million in federal grants to be used for travel, tourism, and outdoor recreational activities.
The US Department of Economic Development will provide $ 314 million in funding to 34 states and the District of Columbia for the travel, tourism and leisure program, according to a department press release. The program focuses on accelerating the recovery of communities that rely on tourism and travel for economic prosperity.
The $ 750 million program began as part of the American rescue plan. Most of the money, $ 510 million, went to government tourism grants, while the remaining $ 240 million went to competitive tourism grants. These grants will be given to those communities whose tourism and travel industries have been hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The coronavirus pandemic has devastated the travel and tourism industries – the hub of the local economy across the country,” said Alejandra Y. Castillo, deputy trade minister for economic development, in the press release. “EDA prides itself on providing state and territory leaders with the resources to better build through locally-led strategies that uniquely address the challenges and opportunities of their local travel tourism and outdoor recreation industries.”
No plans have been released for how Ohio will use the funds, but other states have reported that they will be running marketing campaigns to attract tourists, make improvements to their parks, and add education curricula to the state parks.
