EDA Destination Planning and Development Grants
Funding Amount
Not stated
Deadline
Deadline not published
Grant Type
Foundation
Deadline history & next window
- Cycle
- Rolling — applications accepted year-round
- Tracked since
- April 2026
From the program guidelines: “Year-round industry education”
Can we apply?
Check your organization against each line. Taken from the listing; confirm with the funder's guidelines.
Eligible organizations
- Local, city, county, and tribal governments
- Nonprofit organizations involved with travel and tourism
Other requirements
- Destination marketing organizations (DMOs)
- Rural communities
- Indigenous communities
Overview
Funder: Washington State Department of Commerce (administered by State of Washington Tourism)
Total Program Funding: $3.5 million over 2 years
Geographic Scope: Washington State
Program Type: Competitive, needs-based grant program for tourism industry pandemic recovery
Program Overview:
Economic Development Administration (EDA) block grant funds administered to assist tourism industry pandemic recovery. Grants support destination planning and development across Washington's tourism sector.
Eligible Applicants:
- Local, city, county, and tribal governments
- Destination marketing organizations (DMOs)
- Nonprofit organizations involved with travel and tourism
- Rural communities
- Indigenous communities
Focus Areas:
- Research and data collection
- Marketing production
- Arts and culture initiatives
- Sporting event incentives
- Technical assistance for tourism-related projects
- Rural Tourism Support program
- Marketing production for Indigenous communities
- Capacity building
- Economic resilience projects
- Small business support
- Attraction creation and development
- Shovel-ready project development
Award Characteristics:
- Competitive, needs-based selection
- Emphasis on underserved and rural communities
- Focus on pandemic recovery and industry resilience
- Support for tribal organizations prioritized
Selection Criteria:
- State of Washington Tourism (SWT) selected based on:
- Commitment to state tourism industry recovery and development
- Demonstrated Rural Tourism Support program
- Previous technical assistance and sustainable tourism grant administration
- Year-round industry education
- Previous grant administration contracts with Department of Commerce
Administration:
- SWT responsible for grant promotion and education
- Tracking and reporting of awards
- Emphasis on diversity, equity, and inclusion in tourism projects
- Outreach plan includes webinars, emails, and in-person presentations
Updates: Potential applicants can receive updates through SWT's industry newsletter
How to Apply
Application Process
- Stay informed:
- Subscribe to State of Washington Tourism industry newsletter for updates
- Monitor SWT website for official launch and application opening
- Attend outreach events:
- SWT hosting webinars for interested applicants
- In-person presentations available
- Email-based information distribution
- Application requirements (details to be released):
- Application will specify project objectives
- Documentation of needs assessment
- Detailed budget and timeline
- Alignment with program focus areas
- Demonstration of capacity to implement
- For underserved/rural applicants: documentation of tourism dependence and economic need
- Evaluation:
- Competitive, needs-based review
- Priority given to:
- Rural and underserved communities
- Tribal organizations
- Communities most impacted by pandemic
- Projects advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion in tourism
- Submission:
- Details to be announced in SWT outreach
- Likely online portal or email submission
What Washington Tourism Alliance actually gave
Source: IRS Form 990, 2024
- Grants in 2024
- 67
- Total given
- $1.81M
- Median grant
- $20K
- Range
- $7,500–$82K
- By dollars: Washington 100%. Top recipient cities: Bellingham, WA; Seattle, WA; Port Angeles, WA.
- 0% of grants with a stated purpose were for general or operating support.
Example grants
Visit Issaquah · Issaquah, WA
Shoulder season video and photography initiative, paragliding festival professional…
$82K
Washington Filmworks · Seattle, WA
Creating collateral for tourism and film and outreach to tribal communities to develop…
$75K
Economic Alliance of Lewis County · Chehalis, WA
Rural tourism research & data and tourism regeneration
$65K
Kittitas County Chamber of Commerce · Ellensburg, WA
Arts & culture, rtmp, and rural tourism research & data
$61K
Visit Tri Cities · Kennewick, WA
Sports incentivization grant
$60K
Focus Areas & Funding Uses
Fields of Work
- Travel and tourism
- Community development
- Nonprofits
- BIPOC
- Native americans
Categories
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