Opportunity Information: Apply for EDA 2021 ARPATOURISM
The FY 2021 American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) Travel, Tourism, and Outdoor Recreation Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) is a U.S. Department of Commerce Economic Development Administration (EDA) funding initiative meant to help communities and regions recover from the sharp economic damage COVID-19 caused to travel, tourism, and outdoor recreation. The core idea is to speed up recovery while also making these local and regional visitor economies more resilient over the long term. Rather than focusing on a single type of intervention, EDA structured this NOFO to support a broad mix of projects, including both infrastructure and non-infrastructure activities, as long as they strengthen the travel, tourism, or outdoor recreation sector and contribute to regional economic recovery and competitiveness.
This specific posting covers only the EDA Competitive Tourism Grants portion of the overall ARPA Tourism effort. While the overall ARPA Tourism program includes two components (State Tourism Grants and EDA Competitive Tourism Grants), applicants responding to this NOFO are applying into the competitive, EDA-run track. The competitive structure is designed to be flexible and responsive to local and regional needs, using EDA's Economic Adjustment Assistance (EAA) authority, which is commonly used for place-based economic development when regions are facing economic shocks or transitioning industries. In practical terms, that flexibility means proposals can range from physical improvements that support visitors to capacity-building and planning efforts that help communities rebuild demand, adapt to changed travel patterns, and strengthen the tourism and outdoor recreation ecosystem.
The opportunity is discretionary and can be awarded either as a grant or a cooperative agreement, depending on the level of federal involvement anticipated during execution. The funding activity category is listed as "Other," reflecting that tourism and outdoor recreation recovery projects often cut across categories like infrastructure, workforce, planning, economic development strategy, and sector support. The program is associated with CFDA 11.307, which is EDA's Economic Adjustment Assistance program.
Eligible applicants are broad and include state governments, counties, cities or townships, special district governments, public and state-controlled institutions of higher education, private institutions of higher education, federally recognized Tribal governments, and nonprofit organizations with 501(c)(3) status (other than IHEs). The NOFO also indicates that additional entity types may be eligible under an "Others" category, suggesting that EDA may allow certain quasi-governmental or other qualifying organizations when they meet the program's requirements and can demonstrate the ability to carry out and manage the award consistent with federal rules.
In terms of scale and competitiveness, the maximum award amount (ceiling) is $10,000,000, and EDA anticipated making roughly 150 awards under this competitive program. That combination signals that EDA expected a fairly large national portfolio with a wide variety of project sizes and regional contexts, ranging from smaller community-based initiatives to large multi-jurisdictional or regional projects that connect multiple tourism assets, outdoor recreation corridors, or destination development priorities.
A notable feature of this NOFO is the application timing structure. For the EDA Competitive Tourism Grants, there were no fixed application submission deadlines, which is unusual compared to many federal grant competitions. Even so, EDA strongly encouraged applicants to submit complete applications as soon as possible and advised submission no later than January 31, 2022. The reason for this strong recommendation was practical: EDA needed time to review, process, and potentially award projects before statutory deadlines tied to ARPA funds. Importantly, submission by that date was not a guarantee of funding, and any award depended on the availability of funds. Applicants were directed to the NOFO's review process section for details, reinforcing that EDA would evaluate applications as they came in and that completeness and readiness would matter.
Overall, this NOFO can be understood as a recovery-and-rebuilding investment tool targeted at places where travel, tourism, and outdoor recreation are major economic drivers and were disrupted by the pandemic. EDA's intent was not only to restore pre-pandemic activity but to support modernization and resilience, using EAA's flexible economic development framework to fund projects that help destinations and regions adapt, improve visitor-serving assets and systems, and strengthen the underlying economic foundation tied to tourism and outdoor recreation.Apply for EDA 2021 ARPATOURISM
- The Department of Commerce, Economic Development Administration in the other (see text field entitled explanation of other category of funding activity for clarification) sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "FY 2021 American Rescue Plan Act Travel, Tourism, and Outdoor Recreation Notice of Funding Opportunity" and is now available to receive applicants.
- Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 11.307.
- This funding opportunity was created on Jul 22, 2021.
- Applicants must submit their applications by For EDA Competitive Tourism Grants, there are no application submission deadlines.While EDA encourages eligible applicants to submit their applications as soon as possible, EDA strongly advises eligible applicants to submit complete applications no later than January 31, 2022 so that EDA can review and process the application in time to get a potential award in place prior to deadlines imposed by Congress. Submission by January 31, 2022 is not a guarantee of funding. Any award is subject to the availability of funds. See Section E of this ARPA Tourism NOFO regarding EDA#8217s review process.. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
- Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $10,000,000.00 in funding.
- The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 150 candidate(s).
- Eligible applicants include: State governments, County governments, City or township governments, Special district governments, Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized), Nonprofits having a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Private institutions of higher education, Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).
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| Accelerating Social Entrepreneurship in Ethiopia (ASE) 2021 NOFO Apply for AFADD 21 02 Funding Number: AFADD 21 02 Agency: Department of State, U.S. Mission to Ethiopia Category: Other (see text field entitled Explanation of Other Category of Funding Activity for clarification) Funding Amount: $40,000 |
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| Species Recovery Grants to Tribes Apply for NOAA NMFS PRPO 2022 2006990 Funding Number: NOAA NMFS PRPO 2022 2006990 Agency: Department of Commerce Category: Other (see text field entitled Explanation of Other Category of Funding Activity for clarification) Funding Amount: $300,000 |
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| Establishing the U.S. Palestinian Affairs Unit eHub Apply for PAUPDFY21009 Funding Number: PAUPDFY21009 Agency: Department of State, U.S. Mission to Jerusalem Category: Other (see text field entitled Explanation of Other Category of Funding Activity for clarification) Funding Amount: $55,000 |
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| Promoting Safe and Healthy Workplaces in Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador Apply for FOA ILAB 21 10 Funding Number: FOA ILAB 21 10 Agency: Department of Labor, Bureau of International Labor Affairs Category: Other (see text field entitled Explanation of Other Category of Funding Activity for clarification) Funding Amount: $8,000,000 |
| Building a comprehensive government approach to combating child labor and forced labor in Mexico Apply for NOI ILAB 21 15 Funding Number: NOI ILAB 21 15 Agency: Department of Labor, Bureau of International Labor Affairs Category: Other (see text field entitled Explanation of Other Category of Funding Activity for clarification) Funding Amount: $18,000,000 |
| Africa Regional Services Paris Statement of Interest: Small Grants for International Visitors Leadership Program Alumni Apply for AF PDPA FY21 04 Funding Number: AF PDPA FY21 04 Agency: Department of State, Africa Regional Services Category: Other (see text field entitled Explanation of Other Category of Funding Activity for clarification) Funding Amount: $20,000 |
| Improving Gender Equity in the Mexican Workplace Apply for FOA ILAB 21 13 Funding Number: FOA ILAB 21 13 Agency: Department of Labor, Bureau of International Labor Affairs Category: Other (see text field entitled Explanation of Other Category of Funding Activity for clarification) Funding Amount: $10,000,000 |
| Strengthening Decent Work in the Fishing Sector in South America Apply for FOA ILAB 21 08 Funding Number: FOA ILAB 21 08 Agency: Department of Labor, Bureau of International Labor Affairs Category: Other (see text field entitled Explanation of Other Category of Funding Activity for clarification) Funding Amount: $5,000,000 |
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