MOA Accepting Applications to the Tourism Grant Program

​The Municipality of Anchorage is accepting applications for its $7 million Tourism Grant Program. The program is funded by CARES Act funding distributed to the municipality and will provide three tiers of grants: $10,000, $25,000, or $50,000.

Businesses and organizations that rely primarily on visitation to the community and have experienced economic hardship and income loss because of the pandemic are eligible to receive a grant, and the amount of the grant awarded depends on the size of the business, measured by 2019 income.

Specific edibility requirements are as follows:

• Must have a business address located within the Municipality of Anchorage.
• Must be an existing business or nonprofit organization with a significant reliance on leisure and business travel (70 percent or more of annual gross receipts dependent upon visitors traveling to Anchorage from outside the municipality, based on 2019 receipts).
• Must have a loss of income greater than 60 percent 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 be able to provide a Social Security Number (SSN) or Employer Identification Number (EIN)
• Businesses that received grants through the MOA’s Hospitality Grant program tiers A, B, or C are not eligible. Businesses that received funding through other grant programs 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.

Applications to the grant program will be reviewed and managed by a panel of Municipality of Anchorage, Visit Anchorage, and community representatives, and Visit Anchorage will oversee disbursement and accounting of the funds.

For businesses that are interested and eligible, they can apply online; the application deadline is February 17.

Additional information about the Tourism Grant Program may be found in this FAQ document, and applicants can email grant@anchorage.net with questions or for technical help with the application process.