Undiscovered SC Grant Program

Undiscovered SC Grant Program

Status: ACTIVE
Funder: South Carolina Department of Parks, Recreation & Tourism
Amount: US $100,000 - US $200,000
Last Updated: June 27, 2025

Summary

The Undiscovered SC Grant Program aims to enhance South Carolina's tourism by supporting counties and municipalities in developing public attractions. With a focus on projects that showcase the state's unique cultural and recreational experiences, the program seeks to stimulate local economies through increased visitor spending. Eligible applicants must demonstrate financial stability and a clear project plan to ensure effective use of funds within the specified grant period, ultimately fostering tourism growth in underrepresented areas.

Overview

The Undiscovered SC grant program is designed to assist communities with the development of publicly owned tourism products and attractions that will encourage visitation to South Carolina. What is Undiscovered SC? Undiscovered SC represents the largely unknown and under-utilized travel experiences that can be found throughout South Carolina. It is the untapped tourism potential of a developing destination and its historic, cultural, or recreational attractions. Undiscovered SC is comprised of towns, cities, and counties that often lack the individual resources to reach their potential as travel destinations. The Undiscovered SC grant program is designed to help communities realize their full tourism potential by investing in publicly-owned tourism attraction projects that, once completed, will generate increased visitation and visitor spending. Through the Undiscovered SC program, SCPRT will assist in the creation or expansion of viable tourism products with the potential to add value to their communities. The grants can help cover the implementation of existing plans and the expansion or enhancement of existing tourism product. This grant program represents an exciting new dimension of support for tourism product development in our state.

Eligibility

You can learn more about this opportunity by visiting the funder's website. The applicant must be a county or municipal government with Accommodations Tax distributions of $1,000,000 or less, according to data released by the SC State Treasurer’s Office. View the SC Accommodations Tax Distribution Table for FY 2023-24 here.The applicant must provide evidence of a functioning organization and the capacity toadminister a grantThe applicant must provide a completed project development plan with action steps and timelines that show project completion within the 24 month grant periodThe applicant cannot have any significant and unresolved issues with any grant program administered by SCPRTThe applicant may not have an open Undiscovered SC grant.Fundability:The application must provide firm evidence that the required cash match is immediately available for expenditure in carrying out the project activitiesCash match is 1 to 1 The applicant may not use other state general appropriations funds as match.In-kind matches are not allowedAll commitments of assistance cited in the application must be confirmed with appropriate letters of commitmentLand for the project must be optioned or owned in Fee Simple TitleEligible Activities:Creating new projects with tourism significance that will attract visitors from outside a 50 mile radius.Special priority will be given to admissions-based tourism attractions.Projects must be appropriate to their location.Expanding or enhancing existing tourism product, provided that the enhancements will result in attracting visitors from outside a 50 mile radius.Rehabilitating/renovating buildings or structures with tourism significance, including the adaptive reuse of buildings, structures, textile mills, etc., to provide an enriching visitor experience.

Ineligibility

Ineligible Activities:Acquisition Public recreation facilities for predominately local use Visitor or Welcome Centers Landscaping Salary, administrative costs, office equipment, office supplies The development of exclusively for-profit businesses or private ventures Restoration of private homes Facility operation and maintenance costs For profit concerns