The Municipality of Anchorage (MOA) began accepting new applications for Round 3 of its successful Tourism Grant Program on September 23, 2021. The application period closed October 6, 2021. This round contains $2.85 million for tourism business grants and is derived from the municipality’s distribution of the first tranche of federal ARPA funds, approved earlier this summer.

Round 3 of the Tourism Grant Program provides four tiers of grants – $5,000, $10,000, $25,000, or $50,000 – to businesses and organizations that rely primarily on outside visitation to the community for revenue. Economic recovery in tourism has been uneven, with some businesses rebounding, while other segments lag. To qualify, businesses must demonstrate a continued loss of revenue in 2021. Grants will be awarded to businesses yet to fully recover and that have experienced economic hardship and income loss from the pandemic’s effects on outside visitation. Grant eligibility will be based upon a comparison of 2019 revenue from January through August (business prior to the pandemic) to 2021 revenue from January through August to determine ongoing need. The eligibility criteria for Round 3 include the following:

  • Must have a business based in or offering product primarily within the Municipality of Anchorage.
  • Must be able to provide a Social Security Number (SSN) or Employer Identification Number (EIN).
  • Must be an existing business or nonprofit organization with a significant reliance on leisure and business travel defined as 70% or more of annual gross receipts directly coming from visitors traveling to Anchorage from outside the municipality, based on 2019 receipts.
  • Must have a loss of income greater than 40% in from January through August 2021 compared to January through August 2019 due to the reduction in out-of-community visitors as customers, cancellation of meetings and conventions, etc., due to COVID-19.
  • Must have annual gross receipts in 2019 of at least $25,000. Businesses with less than $25,000 in annual revenue in 2019 may be eligible if the year-over-year loss from 2019 to 2021 was $10,000 or more.
  • Eligible businesses that have not yet received a grant in prior rounds will be given priority.
  • Business that received funds in previous Tourism Grant in rounds are encouraged to apply if they meet all other criteria. Qualified applicants who have not received a grant in prior rounds of this program may be given priority.

Applications will be reviewed and managed by a panel comprised of community and philanthropy advisors. Visit Anchorage will oversee disbursement and accounting.

The deadline to apply was October 6, 2021. Additional information about the Tourism Grant Program may be found in this FAQ document. Applicants can email grant@anchorage.net with questions about the program.

Additional information about the MOA's other grant programs may be found on the COVID-19 response website.