Alleghany Highlands Chamber of Commerce & Tourism Receives Virginia Tourism Corporation Grant for Tourism Marketing By Teresa Hammond Executive Director, Alleghany Highlands Chamber of Commerce   Covington, VA (Feb. 23, 2017) - Governor Terry McAuliffe announced that the Alleghany Highlands Chamber of Commerce & Tourism received $14,700 from the Virginia Tourism Corporation Marketing Leverage Program grant fund. In total VTC awarded more than $772,000 for 62 tourism marketing projects across the state to help increase visitation and revenue for Virginia’s localities through tourism. The grants are designed to help local and regional tourism entities attract more visitors by leveraging local marketing dollars, and will ultimately impact at least 260 other statewide tourism entities. The local organizations match the state grant funds by a minimum of 2:1 in order to support marketing projects. This funding cycle, the local partners will match the VTC grant dollars with more than $3.64 million, providing more than $4.4 million in new marketing to increase visitation to Virginia. The AH Chamber received a $14,700 grant for its Alleghany Highlands Arts & Mountain Heritage marketing initiative. The AH Chamber partnered with Covington, Clifton Forge, Iron Gate and Alleghany County to apply as a region. The goal is to promote the uniqueness of our arts and heritage here in the Alleghany Highlands and focus on how the mountains inspire our artists and how our mountain heritage makes our arts scene Uniquely Alleghany! The purpose of this program is to promote the Arts, Culture and Heritage that can be found in both downtowns. The goal of the program is to increase visitation and spending at our arts and heritage venues. “We want the Alleghany Highlands to grow and prosper and we have a very interesting heritage and arts scene to bring people here, but they need to know more about us first!,” states Kara Asboth, Marketing Manager for the Alleghany Highlands Chamber of Commerce & Tourism. The Historic Masonic Theatre in downtown Clifton Forge has been lovingly restored and reopened to the public in June 2016. The theatre went through a 6.3-million-dollar renovation and now offers a first class venue for performances, community activities and promotes events such as Alleghany Highlands Heritage Day. It is believed that this revitalized theatre will continue the growth of tourism in our area. Downtown Clifton Forge also boasts the Clifton Forge School of the Arts, the Alleghany Highlands Arts and Crafts Center and the Masonic Amphitheatre. Covington offers performances through the Alleghany Highlands Arts Council and the River Rock Amphitheatre. The area is working on regional promotions as well, with the Alleghany Highlands Arts Council working in conjunction with the Historic Masonic Theatre to provide a series of exceptional performances. “Each of these venues and their performances, classes, artisans and events are what make our mountain region special and unique. Yes, larger cities have great scenes as well, but they don't have the beautiful mountain scenery, the tie to nature, the downhome look and feel or artisans and performers that are inspired by these surroundings! We want those visitors to come and see what we have to offer and these funds will allow us to market our area to bring them here,” adds Teresa Hammond, Executive Director, Alleghany Highlands Chamber of Commerce & Tourism. The VTC Marketing Leverage Program is designed to stimulate new tourism marketing through partnerships by leveraging limited marketing dollars, resulting in increased visitor spending.  A minimum of three entities must partner financially to apply and may consist of Virginia towns, cities, counties, convention and visitors bureaus, chambers of commerce, other local or regional destination marketing organizations, private businesses, museums, attractions, cultural events, and other not-for-profit entities.  “Today, we take another critical step in supporting one of Virginia’s largest private sector industries and the individual communities across the Commonwealth that foster it,” said Governor McAuliffe. “These Marketing Leverage Program grants provide a vital opportunity for destinations and businesses across the Commonwealth, helping to create jobs, promote economic development, and increase visitor spending. I congratulate the more than 260 tourism partners across the Commonwealth that received funding for 62 projects – not only the highest number of partners awarded in the program’s history, but the highest dollar match by partners in a single funding cycle.” Research shows that every VTC dollar invested in grants resulted in $16 of direct visitor spending. Marketing campaigns that received Marketing Leverage Grants increased visitation by 15%. “The Marketing Leverage Program grants provide vital funding to our tourism businesses across the Commonwealth, helping to make Virginia not only an incredible place to visit, but also to live,” said Todd Haymore, Secretary of Commerce and Trade. “Through the MLP grant program, Virginia Tourism has helped demonstrate the power of partnerships, as well as the economic power of tourism. I thank all of our tourism partners and members of the General Assembly for their support of this program.” Tourism is an instant revenue generator for Virginia. In 2015, tourism generated $23 billion in revenue, supported nearly 223,100 jobs and provided $1.6 billion in state and local taxes. Dollars invested in tourism are proven to provide a 7:1 return in tax revenue for Virginia, and the grant awards and matching funds provide a stimulus to localities seeking to increase tourism visitation and revenue.

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