The Park City Chamber/Bureau is preparing to award grant monies to businesses or not-for-profit groups desiring to advance the ideal of sustainable tourism, a concept embraced by the organization as it attempts to reduce the impact of visitors on the community.
The Chamber/Bureau for the first time is offering what are known as sustainable tourism grants, with a cap of $30,000 per award. It is designed to be an annual program. The total dollar figure available this year was not clear at the outset of the application window, the Chamber/Bureau said. The funding for the grants will be from the Chamber/Bureau’s general budget.
Businesses or not-for-profit organizations based in Park City or surrounding Summit County are eligible, as are those outside of Park City or Summit County seeking funds that would be used in the city or county. Government entities are eligible as well if they are collaborating with a business or not-for-profit organization. Applicants also must be a Chamber/Bureau member or affiliate in good standing as of May 1.
The Chamber/Bureau in 2022 unveiled a Sustainable Tourism Plan that is designed to ensure the tourism-heavy economy of the Park City area does not ultimately overwhelm the community or the environment. There have been longtime concerns about the impact of tourism on Park City, including environmental degradation, and the worries have seemed to deepen with the large crowds that arrived during the pandemic.
“Park City and Summit County have come to be recognized as one of the most attractive tourist destinations in the world, but with tourism success comes great civic responsibility,” Jennifer Wesselhoff, the president and CEO of the Chamber/Bureau, said in a prepared statement. “The Sustainable Tourism Grant allows eligible organizations the opportunity to begin, and catapult, their journey on a path toward reimagined and conscious tourism.”
There is a wide range of categories of projects that are eligible for grant monies through the program. Some examples, as outlined by the Chamber/Bureau, include:
• tourism workforce development, such as training programs for front-line staffers.
• strategic planning related to tourism.
• “spreading economic impact” to times when there are fewer visitors in the community, such as in the middle of the week and the shoulder seasons.
• surveys and research specific to an event, such as a feasibility study or a report about the economic impact of an event.
• projects meant to reduce the impact of traffic generated during large events as well as efforts to cut emissions during events.
• projects with the purpose of increasing “the accessibility of outdoor experiences for underrepresented communities.”
• bicycling infrastructure, such as stations for repairs.
• programs that encourage shopping at locally owned businesses.
The Chamber/Bureau will vet the applications to make sure they are eligible for the program. A six-person committee of the organization will review the applications and attach a score. The board of directors of the Chamber/Bureau must grant a final approval to each award.
The Chamber/Bureau will notify the recipients on July 10. The monies must be spent by the recipients by June14, 2024 or earlier, or they will be forfeited.
The application deadline is April 28. Applications request an overview of the project, a proposed budget and information about the project’s support of the Chamber/Bureau’s sustainable tourism efforts.
“Together and as a community we can create positive change, manage our outdoor environment, and celebrate our community character to continue the way of life we Parkites love,” Morgan Mingle, the director of sustainable tourism at the Chamber/Bureau, said in a prepared statement.
The Sustainable Tourism Plan is available online at https://assets.simpleviewinc.com/simpleview/image/upload/v1/clients/parkcity/Sustainable_Tourism_Plan_Park_City_2022_Low_Res_489b7939-050e-44c7-aaf2-66c3a5d7316a.pdf.
Grant applications are available on the Chamber/Bureau website, www.visitparkcity.com. The direct link to the grant program is: https://www.visitparkcity.com/members/resources/sustainabletourismgrant. Completed applications can be submitted to Mingle by 11:59 p.m. April 28 at [email protected].