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Charlotte County is one of 133 Virginia counties and independent cities that has received funding for tourism.

County Administrator Dan Witt made the announcement during the Charlotte Board of Supervisors meeting on Monday, Nov. 8.

According to Witt, the $30,000 in funding is part of the American Rescue Plan Act Tourism Recovery Program.

“COVID-19 has had a continued and devastating impact on Virginia’s tourism and hospitality industry in Virginia. As the commonwealth prepares to restore tourism economic impact, the Virginia Tourism Corporation (VTC) is offering these funds to spur economic activity and travel across the commonwealth,” stated a release from VTC.

County officials plan to come up with projects that will benefit from the funding in the coming months.

“We have a lot to offer in the form of tourism; we just haven’t marketed ourselves,” said Supervisor Donna Fore.

According to VTC, funds may not be used for any expenses unrelated to tourism marketing and development, including but not limited to staffing, maintenance, replacing an existing budget, etc.

“The following are eligible expenses: marketing tactics, marketing services and tourism product/development,” Virginia’s tourism officials said.

During the meeting, Fore brought up the fact that the county does not have a chamber of commerce and asked Witt to consider that as an option for the use of funds.

“Please consider a legitimate chamber of commerce for this county,” Fore said. “I can’t image a county without a chamber, but here we sit without an actual chamber of commerce.”

VTC determined every locality’s allocation based on the share each locality contributed to state tax revenue generated by tourism in the year 2019.

Each locality’s share of the total allocation pool is similar to that share.

Neighboring counties of Prince Edward and Lunenburg also received $30,000 in funding as part of the program. The funds may not be used for any expenses that are not related to tourism marketing and development, including but not limited to staffing, maintenance, replacing an existing budget, etc.