VisitNorfolk receives $10,000 from Virginia Tourism program to promote small businesses

NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) — A local marketing organization for the City of Norfolk says they received $10,000 from the Virginia Tourism Corporation’s (VTC) Recovery Marketing Leverage Program (RMLP).

According to VisitNorfolk, the grant they received is made to help local and regional tourism groups attract more visitors by supporting limited local marketing dollars through a local match of the state grants funds.

VisitNorfolk says they will use the money to promote hard-hit local small businesses impacted by the pandemic using a marketing and influencer campaign called the City with Bite.

The group will curate and share the stories of local chefs, restaurants, and breweries to share on websites, social media platforms and news outlets.

They say this is possible through a partnership with VisitNorfolk’s Marketing Agency of Record, Sway, and local content creator and event manager Jarrell Williams of Nomarama.

“Jarrell is a mainstay in the Norfolk community, and this grant allows us the opportunity to utilize his content creation skills to rally around our partners, sharing the raw and genuine stories that make Norfolk’s culinary scene so eclectic and remarkable,”

Kurt Krause | President and CEO of VisitNorfolk

Grants like the one received by VisitNorfolk were awarded to 161 local tourism initiatives throughout Virginia. The grants will ultimately impact 483 statewide tourism entities, VTC says.

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