This week, the commissioners are investing $250,000 with Experience Columbus to help promote our community and fund a Diversity Travel Apprenticeship program to promote equity in the hospitality industry. Experience Columbus markets and promotes our region as a destination for visitors, tourists, conferences and conventions, and the hospitality industry has suffered during the pandemic. In a typical year, Greater Columbus welcomes 43 million visitors who directly spend about $7.6 billion and support 78,600 jobs in the tourism industry. The same visitors pay $1.35 billion each year in local, state, and federal taxes that support the arts, human services, and economic development in Franklin County. Getting our hotels, restaurants, convention center, and other attractions back on their feet will be key to helping our whole community recover.
The commissioners’ grant will be made from funds available via the American Rescue Plan. You can read the text of this resolution
here and learn more about how the commissioners are using American Rescue Plan funding to help our community recover at
Recovery.FranklinCountyOhio.gov.