Seven communities across Georgia will be able to create or expand new projects in their communities thanks to funding from Explore Georgia, the state tourism office within the Georgia Department of Economic Development (GDEcD).
Recently, GDEcD announced that it has awarded more than $64,000 in tourism product development grants to seven communities, including Athens for the Music Walk of Fame; Putnam County for the Georgia’s Writers Museum; and Tifton for the Southern Drawl Cotton Georgia Grown Retail Experiment.
“The addition of new tourism products can completely transform a community and create lasting economic growth by spurring job creation, attracting new investment and providing residents with an improved quality of life,” Pat Wilson, commissioner for GDECD. “I applaud each of these projects and community leaders for seeing the value that tourism can bring not only to their local communities but to the state as a whole.”
Explore Georgia offers this grant to communities who participated in the department’s Tourism Product Development Resource Team program in an effort to encourage communities across the state to create new tourism products.
“The creation of new tourism product is essential to increasing travel throughout the state by attracting new visitors and encouraging locals to see all that Georgia has to offer, and this year’s awardees showcase the state’s incredible assets that are waiting to be explored,” Lisa Love, interim deputy commissioner for Explore Georgia, said. “Funding is the greatest need for these projects to get off the ground, and we are proud to have this program to assist communities with implementing new product that will drive visitors and expand their local tourism industry.”
Other recipients of the 2020 Tourism Product Development Funding Program are:
● Conyers DDA, Grey Ghost Brewing Company;
● City of Norcross, Historic Downtown Norcross Tour Project;
● DA of McDuffie County, Historic Pews & Pulpits Self-Guided Tour Brochure;
● City of Calhoun DDA, Freight & Rail Brewing Company.
