Travel Nevada to Distribute $730,000 to Rural Nevada Groups to Promote Tourism

A video featuring Virginia City musicians and a campaign promoting Lehman Caves at Great Basin National Park are among the marketing projects that will receive funding from the Nevada Division of Tourism (Travel Nevada).

The Nevada Commission on Tourism (NCOT) on Tuesday approved $730,547 in grants to rural Nevada communities to market themselves as tourism destinations.

“Travel Nevada’s Rural Marketing Grants program is a key factor in how we support Nevada communities as they grow their economies,” Brenda Scolari, director of the Nevada Department of Tourism and Cultural Affairs, said. “We are proud to support the efforts of our dedicated tourism partners in rural Nevada.” Grants were awarded to nonprofit groups for tourism marketing projects that will result in overnight stays, which generate room tax revenue for the state. Among the funded projects:

The Virginia City Tourism Commission received a $12,500 grant to create a promotional video featuring local musicians. The four- to five-minute video documents artists as they work to create a song that ultimately will become the new music track for future advertising. The video also will be used in advertising.

A $12,000 award to the Great Basin National Park Foundation to promote the park’s Lehman Caves system through photography, videography and social media, as well as traditional and digital advertising. August 2022 will mark the 100^th anniversary of the Lehman Caves’ designation as a National Monument.

The Goldwell Open Air Museum near Beatty was granted $4,700 to promote its Bullfrog Biennial arts festival via radio spots, posters, postcards and social media ads. The October event will be held in conjunction with Beatty Days, another community fall festival.

A $6,150 grant was awarded to the Marzen House Museum in Lovelock to create brochures explaining revitalization projects going on at the museum. Digital versions of the brochure content will be placed on the Marzen House website and Facebook page.

The Moapa Valley Revitalization Project, a nonprofit organization seeking to develop tourism, community resources and the local economy, got a $10,000 award for marketing materials, including ads, social media promotions and visitor guide distribution.

For a complete list of grant recipients, click here. Funding for Travel Nevada’s Rural Marketing Grants program does not come from the state’s general fund. Travel Nevada receives three-eighths of 1% of room tax revenue as its operations budget. A portion of those funds is used to offer the Rural Marketing Grants program. Grant recipients must provide a 50-50 match in funds of volunteer hours unless a waiver is approved. The grants are distributed in the form of reimbursements to the recipients after the projects are completed and labor and funding details are documented. For more on the Rural Marketing Grants program, click here.