Funding granted to further grow Kentucky tourism

Kentucky tourism organizations will receive $2 million in funding to improve their marketing efforts and attract more visitors in 2025.

Gov. Andy Beshear announced that 87 tourism marketing organizations across 80 counties are receiving $2 million through the Regional Marketing and Matching Funds Program.

“Kentucky’s $13.8 billion tourism industry is essential to our economic success, helping create vibrant communities that people love to visit and call home,” said Gov. Beshear. “This program helps tourism organizations by providing the marketing resources needed to showcase our commonwealth’s unique experiences and rich heritage, which will bring even more visitors to our New Kentucky Home.”

The breakdown of funding by region is as follows:

• $574,956 – Louisville Lincoln Region 

• $361,123 – Bluegrass Region  

• $257,969 - Western Waterland Region 

• $233,048 – Northern Kentucky Tourism Region 

• $197,775 – Cave Region 

• $104,341 – Eastern Highlands South Region 

• $98,094 – Green River Region 

• $96,675 – Southern Kentucky Region 

• $76,019 – Eastern Kentucky North Region 

“The Kentucky Department of Tourism’s Matching Funds Program has helped further our access to new visitor markets and keep up with emerging trends in our industry. We are able to entice more visitation to our region, thereby increasing local economic impact from tourists,” said Bowling Green Area Convention and Visitors Bureau Executive Director Sherry Murphy. “From small business owners to restaurant entrepreneurs, the more visitors we can bring into our area, the more support is given to these important, community-building businesses. Tourism in Kentucky has become a positive and necessary building block for our state and region development.”

Earlier this year, the Governor announced that 2023 was the best year on record for tourism, with $13.8 billion in economic impact and 95,222 jobs. This followed a record-breaking 2022 when he announced that tourism had generated more than $12.9 billion in economic impact and secured 91,668 jobs in Kentucky that year.

Beshear recently announced the New Kentucky Home campaign. He said the initiative is intended to “capitalize on Kentucky’s historic economic momentum and record-breaking tourism success.”