Tourism Grant Program

The City of Roseburg administers the Tourism Grant Program through its Community Development Department using hotel and motel lodging tax revenues collected within Roseburg. The fall grant cycle supports projects and events intended to attract visitors to Roseburg and the surrounding area, increase paid overnight stays, and generate local business revenue. Grants are competitive and subject to available funding. For this cycle, applications are accepted from September 1, 2026 through October 30, 2026, with completed applications due by 5:00 p.m. on October 30. The maximum grant award is $7,500. Funding requests must fall within tourism promotion or a tourism-related facility purpose defined under Oregon Revised Statute 320.300. Eligible tourism promotion activities include advertising, publicizing, or distributing information to attract and welcome tourists; conducting strategic planning and research needed to stimulate future tourism development; operating tourism promotion agencies; and marketing special events and festivals designed to attract tourists. Eligible tourism-related facilities include conference centers, convention centers, visitor information centers, and other improved real property with a useful life of at least 10 years and a substantial purpose of supporting tourism or accommodating tourist activities. Grant funds may not be used for staff wages or personal payment. The grant amount awarded may not exceed 50 percent of the total cost of the project, so the project must have other revenue supporting the remaining costs. Applicants may be governmental entities, nonprofit organizations, or business enterprises. Nonprofit applicants must provide verification of nonprofit status with the application. A business enterprise may be required to obtain a Roseburg business license depending on the type of event, with City staff determining whether that requirement applies. Only one grant application per organization may be submitted during a grant cycle. For tourism promotion projects, applicants must estimate total attendance, the number of attendees traveling more than 50 miles, attendees arriving from another state or country, attendees expected to stay overnight, and projected paid lodging nights. The number predicted to travel more than 50 miles must be at least 25 percent of total attendance for the project to qualify. The application requests project identification, event or project dates and location, organizational and contact information, an authorized signer, a project description, project category, and information about prior City of Roseburg Tourism Grant funding. Applicants must submit an estimated revenue and expense budget identifying the grant amount requested, organizational funding, sponsorships, other grants, other revenue sources, marketing, operations, outsourced services, professional services, and total project revenue and expenses. Applicants must also explain their methods for collecting and verifying attendance and overnight lodging data, provide historical attendance and paid overnight stay information when applicable, describe how the project will attract visitors from outside Roseburg, explain the proposed advertising and publicity approach, identify targeted audiences, discuss innovation, describe benefits to Roseburg businesses, and explain how project success will be evaluated. Applications are evaluated on the extent to which the proposed activity meets state tourism promotion requirements, promotes Roseburg as a destination, attracts visitors from more than 50 miles away, builds new audiences, encourages tourism expansion, supports regional tourism planning, produces a positive tourism impact, increases overnight stays or local business revenue, benefits the overall community, promotes Roseburg's unique attributes, encourages public and private partnerships, supports long-lasting assets or capital facilities, and advances City equity and inclusion goals. Priority is given to Roseburg-based activities and projects and to programs seeking seed money rather than ongoing funding. The City retains sole discretion to determine whether a project will be funded based on the merits of the proposal, its tourism impact, comparison with other applications, and available funding. Awarded applicants must enter into a contract with the City of Roseburg outlining project terms and conditions. They must provide required insurance naming the City as an additional insured, obtain applicable permits, use the funds only for authorized purposes, and promote the City of Roseburg logo on their website and other marketing materials. If an event cannot obtain required special event permitting or is cancelled, tourism funding will be terminated. Unused grant funds must be returned within 30 days. At the end of the project or event, the recipient must submit a project summary documenting economic impact, the number of tourists reached, attendance survey methods, and contracts and invoices paid with grant funding. Failure to provide required documentation may affect eligibility for future City funding. Completed applications may be emailed to Kylee Stutte at cdd@roseburgor.gov, mailed to City of Roseburg, Attn: Kylee Stutte, 900 SE Douglas Avenue, Roseburg, OR 97470, or hand delivered to the Roseburg Community Development Department at Roseburg City Hall, 900 SE Douglas Avenue. Questions may be directed to the Community Development Department at cdd@roseburgor.gov or 541-492-6750. The source materials do not state an award notification date, a defined project performance period, or an explicit recurring schedule for future grant rounds.

Quantify tourism impact with defensible attendance and lodging estimates; demonstrate that at least 25% of attendees are expected to travel more than 50 miles; show how the project promotes Roseburg as a destination and generates overnight stays or local business revenue; identify additional revenue sources because the City grant cannot exceed 50% of project cost; emphasize broad community benefit, regional tourism support, innovation, partnerships, long-lasting assets, and alignment with City equity and inclusion goals; follow the required application instructions and format because noncompliant applications will not be considered.