TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – VISIT FLORIDA, the state’s official tourism marketing organization, announced another round of hurricane recovery grants totaling nearly $230,000 to communities recovering from Hurricane Michael. These grants have been awarded to the Tourism Development Commission of Franklin and Holmes counties based on the amounts requested. Since February, VISIT FLORIDA has awarded $1,087,000 to seven tourist development councils for hurricane recovery.

 

The funding was requested by local tourism development councils and will benefit their targeted marketing efforts as they continue to rebuild and recover from Hurricane Michael. Last month, VISIT FLORIDA President and CEO Dana Young visited Northwest Florida and met with tourism leaders and small business owners who were impacted by the storm.

 

VISIT FLORIDA President and CEO Dana Young said, “VISIT FLORIDA is dedicated to communities that are continuing to recover from Hurricane Michael. After visiting Northwest Florida, I heard directly from local leaders on ways that VISIT FLORIDA can help with their efforts, and I’m pleased that we are able to award more recovery grants today. It’s clear that tourism is vital to Northwest Florida and VISIT FLORIDA will continue to protect this industry by maximizing visitation and the tax revenue it generates.”

 

Tourism Development Council	Grant Funding Awarded
Franklin County Tourist Development Council	$174,000
Holmes County Tourist Development Council	$55,000
Washington County Tourist Development Council	$47,598**
Jackson County Tourist Development Council	$60,000**
Gulf County Tourist Development Council	$250,000**
Panama City Beach Convention & Visitors Bureau	$250,000**
Panama City Community Development Council, Inc.	$250,000**
	$1,086,598.00

 

**FUNDING ANNOUNCED ON FEBRUARY 25, 2019