ANCHORAGE, AK – The Municipality of Anchorage (MOA) began accepting new applications for Round 2 of its successful Tourism Grant Program on April 26, 2021. Of the $7 million initially designated for tourism business relief, there is $1,695,000 available to use for additional grants in Round 2.
Round 2 of the Tourism Grant Program will provide three tiers of grants – $10,000, $25,000, or $50,000 – to various businesses and organizations that rely primarily on visitation to the community. Grant amounts depend on the size of the business, as measured by 2019 income. The grant supports Anchorage tourism businesses that have experienced economic hardship and income loss from the pandemic’s effects on outside visitation. The eligibility criteria for Round 2 have been expanded to include the following:
- Must have a business address located within the Municipality of Anchorage. • Must be able to provide a Social Security Number (SSN) or Employer Identification Number (EIN).
- Must be an existing business or nonprofit organization with a significant reliance on leisure and business travel (70% or more of annual gross receipts directly coming from visitors traveling to Anchorage from outside the municipality, based on 2019 receipts).
- Must have a loss of income greater than 40% in 2020 compared to 2019 due to the reduction in out-of-community visitors as customers, cancellation of meetings and conventions, etc., due to COVID-19.
- Must have annual gross receipts in 2019 of at least $25,000. Businesses with less than $25,000 in annual revenue in 2019 may be eligible if the year-over-year loss from 2019 to 2020 was $10,000 or more.
- Businesses that received a Tourism Grant in Round 1 cannot apply to receive an additional grant in Round 2.
- Businesses that received grants through the MOA’s Hospitality Grant program are not eligible. There is one exception: hotels, tour operators, and other tourism companies where foodservice is not the primary business activity that received a hospitality Tier C grant may be eligible for the Tourism Grant Program provided grants already received and/or loan amounts eligible for forgiveness are included as revenues when calculating overall revenue for 2020.
- Businesses that applied for Round 1 of this Tourism Grant Program but did not qualify will also receive automatic reconsideration under these new guidelines.
Applications will be reviewed and managed by a panel comprising MOA, Visit Anchorage, and community and philanthropy advisors. Visit Anchorage will oversee disbursement and accounting.
Businesses may apply online. The deadline to apply is May 5, 2021.
Additional information about the Tourism Grant Program may be found in this FAQ document. Applicants can email grant@anchorage.net with questions or for technical help with the application process.
Additional information about the MOA’s grant programs may be found on the COVID-19 response website.