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Tourism director seeks restored funding; county proposes $350,000 contribution and $350,000 tourism development grant program
Summary
Thousand Islands International Tourism Council director presented data on visitor spending and short‑term rentals; county staff proposed spending down an existing tourism fund balance to restore the council's operating contribution and create a one‑time tourism development grant program.
Corey Fram, director of the Thousand Islands International Tourism Council (the county's designated tourism promotion agency), told the Board that the council needs restored county support to sustain and expand marketing and business‑development efforts that drive visitor spending and support local jobs.
Fram summarized the council's activities — destination marketing, international outreach, photo and video asset production, and data analysis using mobile location and spending data — and said the organization partners with more than 500 regional operators. He said the council's budget and staff are lean (four full‑time employees plus seasonal staff) and that the county allocation for the council remains below pre‑pandemic levels.
After the presentation the County Administrator discussed the tourism fund balance and proposed using a portion of the fund to restore support and to seed a one‑time tourism development grant program. The administrator reported a tourism fund balance of about $1.11 million and proposed reducing the balance to a target reserve of $400,000 by authorizing a roughly $700,000 drawdown. The proposal, described for initial feedback, would allocate $350,000 as a lump‑sum contribution to the Thousand Islands International Tourism Council and place $350,000 into a tourism development grant program to be administered by the county.
Officials said the proposed grant program would be one‑time funding for forward‑facing, visitor‑experience investments by businesses, nonprofits and municipalities and would be awarded through a transparent application and scoring process. County staff emphasized matching requirements and smaller maximum award sizes as likely features so the one‑time funds leverage private investment and avoid ongoing budget commitments. Several legislators signaled support for the concept and asked that the program details (award caps, match rates, selection committee composition and application rounds) be returned to the Board as a draft for formal approval.
Fram said the council can supply the detailed slide deck and data to legislators and staff, and the county administrator said staff will return with a detailed grant program proposal and draft resolutions for Board action in the months ahead.
