Utah receives $1M in CARES Act money to help tourism recover

Thursday, February 4, 2021

The US federal Economic Development Administration (EDA) is granting a $1million CARES Act Recovery Assistance grant to the Utah Office of Tourism.

The funds announced Tuesday is meant to support the state’s response to the economic impacts caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

Due to the deep and lasting impacts COVID-19 has had on the tourism industry, the 2020 CARES Act allowed the EDA to offer assistance, for the first time, to “travel and tourism-related marketing campaigns.”

The Utah Office of Tourism’s two-year project has three distinct components:

• An industry training program
• Destination recovery plans
• An in-state marketing campaign

“Our goal is to train the tourism industry in best-practices to thrive in a post-pandemic world, prepare our individual destinations for economic recovery, and encourage residents to travel responsibly in Utah” said Vicki Varela, Managing Director of Utah Office of Tourism. “These projects touch on all areas that COVID-19 has affected — our work, business skills, community preparation, and mitigating the impact of visitation on our public lands.”

The grant, to be matched with $250,000 in state funds, is expected to create 256 high-pay and high-skill jobs.

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