Delaware to invest more than $7M to revive tourism industry

Thursday, November 18, 2021

The Travel, Tourism and Outdoor Recreation program, under the American Rescue Plan Act, will offer $510 million in state tourism grants and $240 million in competitive tourism grants to be awarded to advance recovery where those sectors were hardest hit by the pandemic.

Gov. John Carney and the Delaware Division of Small Business on Monday, Nov. 15, announced that the State of Delaware will be investing more than $7 million as part of the recovery effort in travel, tourism and outdoor recreation industries.

The funds are part of Economic Development Administration’s (EDA) $750 million American Rescue Plan Travel, Tourism & Outdoor Recreation program, which provides $510 million in state tourism grants and $240 million in competitive tourism grants that 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. The Department of Commerce awarded $510 million state tourism grants, and Delaware received more than $7 million of those funds.

Requests for proposals (RFPs) are now live on bids.delaware.gov for the travel, tourism and outdoor recreation industries. Funds being awarded through nine to 12 subawards include:

• $1,000,000 (approximately $333,333 per county) devoted to marketing efforts to provide recovery and resiliency to the areas that drive Delaware’s tourism industry;

• $1,500,000 (approximately $500,000 per county) devoted to parks and recreation to increase accessibility at parks and create more opportunities for WiFi;

• $5,250,000 to be divided among three to five projects for a “Commercial Corridor Challenge” for organizations to offer creative solutions to help the tourism industry thrive now and to withstand future disasters.

“These funds will provide necessary support to the tourism industry that was hard hit during the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Carney. “Delaware’s $3.5 billion tourism industry employs over 44,000 Delawareans and we need to band together to come up with solutions that help the industry recover and prepare it for future challenges. We’re grateful to our partners in the federal government, Secretary Raimondo and others, who have given us this opportunity.”

“Rebuilding the travel and tourism industry is a key component of the Biden Administration’s plan to build back better and restore the competitiveness of the United States on the global stage,” said Secretary of Commerce Gina M.

Raimondo. “The state tourism grants give states and territories the flexible opportunity to boost their local tourism industry and ensure that jobs are restored and tourists return safely.”

Interested tourism entities can visit bids.delaware.gov to review the RFP and apply.

The deadline for proposals is Dec. 3, and awardees will be notified in late December. Proposed projects will be ineligible to apply if they are included in any other American Rescue Plan funding request. Construction projects require compliance with NEPA and Davis Bacon, as well as local environmental regulations. All projects will require EDA pre-approval. No projects will be considered on a retroactive basis.

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