Tourism marketing in rural communities receives boost from Tourism Department's Cooperative Marketing Grant Program

Nearly 62 percent of all grant funding in FY24 will support tourism promotion campaigns in rural communities

SANTA FE – The New Mexico Tourism Department (NMTD) is awarding nearly $3.5 million to a record 46 local governments and tourism-related entities across New Mexico through the department's Cooperative Marketing Grant Program for Fiscal Year 2024.

In total, NMTD is awarding $3,437,267 through a 2:1 match, meaning the joint investment in tourism advertising between NMTD and all grant recipients is an estimated $5.16 million.

Rural communities are receiving roughly $2.2 million in grant funding in FY24, equating to roughly 62 percent of all grant funding from NMTD for this program. Tribal and Indigenous entities are receiving $109,052 in grant funding for FY24.

"I'm incredibly pleased we continue to support so many communities and tourism amenities through the Cooperative Marketing Grant Program," said Tourism Secretary Jen Paul Schroer. "Because tourism continues to be a viable source of economic development for New Mexico destinations of all sizes, pooling our resources for tourism marketing helps us deliver more effective results for communities."

Examples of tourism marketing campaigns supported by the Cooperative Marketing Grant Program in FY24 include:

• digital billboards in El Paso to promote the Town of Silver City
• print ads in regional magazines to promote the City of Las Vegas
• photo asset creation for the Town of Mesilla
• crowdsourced photo and video management for the City of Gallup
• seasonal campaigns with content creators and influencers for the City of Alamogordo
• social media content development and implementation for the Santa Fe Children's Museum
• custom written article publication for the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center

"The Town of Red River has been an active participant in the New Mexico Tourism Department's Cooperative Marketing Grant Program for many years now. We see a lot of value in leveraging our marketing dollars through this program to reach our target demographics. The program team collaborates with us on creating a media menu that aligns with our destination's marketing strategy and offers an array of digital, print, and out-of-home initiatives that follow all current trends in tourism marketing," said Town of Red River Director of Economic Development and Tourism Max Khudiakov. "We are extremely pleased with the results of all the marketing campaigns we have done through the program and are looking forward to our future collaborations."

Click here for the complete list of grant recipients.

In FY23, NMTD awarded $3.9 million in grant funding to 41 partners. To review full lists of grant participants from previous years, visit our website.