Regional organizations awarded state tourism-grant funding

CNY Arts, Inc., ICAN, the Town of Massena, and Opera Ithaca are among the organizations receiving state funding through the Market New York program and the Regional Economic Development Council (REDC) initiative.

They’re among 69 projects awarded nearly $15 million in this round of funding, Empire State Development (ESD) announced.

Market New York funding supports tourism-facility capital-improvement projects and regionally themed marketing projects that promote travel destinations, attractions, and special events.

“Tourism is vital to our communities; it showcases the best of New York State, and visitor spending supports small businesses, jobs and regional economies,” Hope Knight, president, CEO, and commissioner said in a release. “Market New York funding helps to ensure that the state’s tourism partners can reach new markets and audiences, and enables destinations to upgrade, grow and expand to encourage sustainable economic growth.”

Project descriptions

CNY Arts, Inc. of Syracuse will use a $150,000 grant for a marketing campaign designed to promote and raise the visibility of Central New York’s arts community. The effort seeks to attract new and returning visitors to “(re)discover the region and its rich cultural activities and expand their experience of the region, promoting return visits,” per the ESD.

Integrated Community Alternatives Network (ICAN) of Utica will allocate its $425,000 capital grant for a second project phase, which is to purchase, construct, and install museum exhibits for Utica Children’s Museum, offering learning experiences that reflect and represent the region, and elevating the museum’s profile through rebranding and website development.

ESD awarded the Town of Massena a grant of $41,000 to increase important branding and marketing support for major fishing tournaments, as part of the community’s continuing efforts to make Massena the fishing capital of the Northeast and a worldwide tourism destination.

In addition, Opera Ithaca will use a $75,000 grant to plan and promote extended outreach for a special event. The event will “expand upon the past marketing campaigns with an anticipated increase in overnight tourism,” ESD said.

Other tourism programs

Empire State Development also noted that it continues accepting applications for the Meet in New York and the Tourism Return-to-Work programs. The Meet In New York grant program was established to encourage the return of conferences, meetings, and trade shows by covering a portion of event-based discounts; more information is available here.

The Tourism Return-to-Work program provides financial assistance to tourism industry businesses that create jobs previously lost due to COVID-19 pandemic economic hardship. More information, including the program application is available here.