Travel Oregon announced today that it will award $100,000 through its Matching Grants Program to advance 16 tourism development projects across the state. Created in 1986, the program supports new projects that will improve local economies and communities by enhancing, expanding, and promoting Oregon's visitor industry.
"We were pleased to see so many tourism projects that were part of a larger economic development plan," said Carole Astley, Industry Relations Manager at Travel Oregon. "Funding such projects helps the community or organization leverage partnerships and dollars for sustaining long-term growth."
The Matching Grants Program selection committee, representing private and public sector organizations, selected this year's grant finalists from a pool of 35 applicants. The 16 projects, approved by the Oregon Tourism Commission, are located throughout the state and, when complete, will fulfill a range of local, regional, and state needs for improved tourism capacity.
The grant winners and their projects are:
• Albany Visitors Association, for the development, design, marketing and distribution of a print and electronic group tour planning guide
• Ashland's Bed and Breakfast Network, for the design of rack cards to be distributed through attendance at three travel fairs/festivals in California and the development of a database to be used for future marketing efforts
• Cascade Pacific Resource Conservation & Development, for the design of a 40-48 page electronic trail brochure with detailed maps to guide visitors to Willamette Valley birding sites
• Central Oregon Visitors Association, for participation in the ITB trade show in Berlin and to develop translated German and Japanese web pages for the Central Oregon Visitors Association website
• Columbia Gorge Winegrowers Association, for design, printing, marketing and development of a new event in the Columbia Gorge centered around a wine passport
• Coos Bay-North Bend Visitor & Convention Bureau, for the production and marketing of a meeting planner video and sales packet promoting newly expanded convention facilities
• Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum, for translation of Aviation Museum exhibits into German, Italian, Spanish, Korean and Japanese in laminated guide books
• Gordon House Conservancy, for the production of audio and visual tours of the only house Frank Lloyd Wright designed in Oregon; tours will include music, sound effects, narration, professional commentary and historical reenactments
• Greater Newport Chamber of Commerce, for participation in the ITB trade show in Berlin
• Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce, for the production of five self-guided audio tours of the historic town to be used in partnership with the Britt Festival, Southern Oregon Visitors Association and Jacksonville Woodlands
• Oregon Snowsport Industries Association (dba Ski Oregon), for three advertising and marketing projects: A television program on Fox Sports Network, banner advertisement on www.onthesnow.com and participation in a national campaign of "Learn to Ski/Snowboard" month
• Oregon Tour & Travel Alliance, for design, production, and distribution of marketing pieces to promote Oregon packaged travel products to domestic and Canadian tour operators
• Portland Institute for Contemporary Art, for advertising design and marketing in New York City to promote the 2009 Time Based Art (TBA) exhibit
• Salem Convention & Visitors Association, for the development, design and printing of a Salem area online and print media kit
• Toledo Development Association/Toledo Community Foundation, for logo design, website creation, brochure design and distribution, and sign installation all relating to the "Made in Toledo, Oregon" branding initiative
• Trail Tenders, Inc., for development of a statewide and national marketing plan for programs at the National Historic Oregon Trail Interpretive Center in Baker City
The 2009-10 matching grants cycle begins next June. Communities, visitor associations and tourism-related organizations are invited to apply for funding.
For more information, please contact Michelle Westerberg at MichelleW@TravelOregon.com