Gov. Doug Ducey along with the Arizona Office of Tourism has announced grant funding totaling more than $9.4 million has been awarded to 43 businesses and organizations across the state. The funding comes from the Visit Arizona Initiative (VAI) Partnership, which supports the relaunch or expansion of a wide variety of festivals, arts and culture, and community events statewide. The funding will impact tourism businesses in all five regions of the state. The projects supported by VIA funding will help create jobs now and in the future.
“The Visit Arizona Initiative is boosting tourism in every part of Arizona and helping Arizonans recover from the effects of the pandemic,” said Gov. Ducey. “Today’s announcement is exciting news for dozens of events, destinations, and organizations both large and small and rural and urban. These grant awardees, which were selected through the Arizona Office of Tourism’s competitive process, will attract more tourism to Arizona and lead to more jobs and spending in communities throughout our state.”
“With tourism being the hardest hit industry and still working to recover, we were really focused during this initial round on getting funds to communities that needed it most,” said Debbie Johnson, Director of the Arizona Office of Tourism (AOT). “We worked diligently through this process to provide support statewide and I’m proud to say we achieved that goal.”
Grant recipients across the state say this funding is critical to helping them continue to employ Arizonans and deliver the experiences that attract millions of visitors each year.
Today’s award announcements were part of a competitive grant process and funds will be available for distribution once grants are accepted and agreements between AOT and the grantee are complete. Applicants who weren’t selected for this round can reapply in the second round in early 2022. Funding announcements on other competitive VAI grants are scheduled to be made in mid-November 2021.
Full Awardees Offer List: $9.4 million total
Tucson & Southern Region (Cochise, Graham, Greenlee, Pima & Santa Cruz counties): $4,670,830 total
- Arizona Media Arts Center
- Cloth & Flame*
- City of Sierra Vista
- Graham County Chamber of Commerce
- North Center Productions, Inc.
- Perimeter Bicycling Association of America, Inc.
- Southern Arizona Arts & Cultural Alliance
- Tubac Chamber of Commerce
- Tucson Bicycle Classic
- University of Arizona Cycling Team
- Willcox Theater and Arts, Inc.
Phoenix Central Region (Maricopa & Pinal counties): $3,713,558 total
- Arizona Basketball Coaches Association
- Arizona Jewish Historical Society
- Ballet Arizona
- Cloth & Flame*
- Desert Botanical Gardens/Taliesin West
- Easy Dave’s
- Greater Phoenix Convention & Visitors Bureau
- Heritage Square Foundation
- International Jazz Day AZ Foundation
- Musical Instrument Museum
- Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame
- Phoenix Art Museum
- Phoenix Zoo
- Scottsdale Fashion Square
- Superior Chamber of Commerce
- The Phoenix Theater Company
- Town of Fountain Hills
- Visit Mesa
Northern Region (Apache, Coconino & Navajo counties): $452,698 total
- Cloth & Flame*
- Creative Flagstaff
- Flagstaff Dark Skies Coalition
- Flagstaff Symphony Orchestra
- Grand Canyon Music Festival
- Lowell Observatory
- Museum of Northern Arizona
- Peak Events, LLC
North Central Region (Gila & Yavapai counties): $364,609 total
- Cloth & Flame*
- Mountain Bike America, LLC
- Prescott Chamber of Commerce
- Sedona Arts Center
- Sedona Mountain Bike Festival, LLC
West Coast Region (Mohave, Yuma & La Paz counties): $235,226 total
- Cloth & Flame*
- City of Kingman
- Go Lake Havasu
- Parker Regional Chamber of Commerce and Tourism
- Yuma History Museum
