The state has awarded Martinsville Speedway a $50,000 grant to use toward boosting its marketing efforts to attract more tourists to the area to stimulate the local economy, Gov. Terry McAuliffe has announced.
The grant is one of 45 local tourism initiatives statewide that will receive more than $796,000 through the Virginia Tourism Corp.’s (VTC) Marketing Leverage Program, which is designed to help tourism-related venues attract more visitors by leveraging local marketing dollars, according to a release from the governor’s office.
With more marketing, the speedway could attract more visitors from out of town to its two NASCAR races each year, which will help boost the local economy, speedway officials said.
Stacey Caldwell, the speedway’s director of sales, said the $50,000 will be used to buy more advertising in the Raleigh, N.C., area and in West Virginia, as well as to develop digital marketing campaigns to reach college students and armed forces members within a 200-mile radius of the track.
In developing the campaigns, the speedway will work with colleges and military bases within that radius, he said.
The speedway offers discounts on race tickets to college students and active military members and veterans, she said.
NASCAR seems to be growing in popularity among young people, and with more marketing toward them, “we feel we will continue to see growth” within that demographic, Caldwell added.
Tourism entities match the VTC grant funds by a minimum of 2 to 1 to support their marketing projects, the release from the governor’s office stated. Caldwell said the speedway was able to count $115,000 it is spending toward other marketing efforts as its match for the VTC money.
Race visitors spend about $170 million a year locally on needs such as lodging, groceries and gasoline, Caldwell said. She added that about 70 percent of the track’s visitors are from outside Martinsville-Henry County.
In 2014, tourism generated $22.4 billion in revenue for the state, supported 217,000 jobs and resulted in $1.5 billion in state and local taxes, according to the release from the governor’s office.
Money invested in tourism promotion achieves a 5-to-1 return in tax revenue for Virginia, and the VTC grant awards and matching funds from recipients provide a stimulus to localities seeking to increase tourism visitation and revenue, the release stated.
“The tourism industry is a key economic driver in the Commonwealth, supporting thousands of jobs and bringing businesses and visitors to see all Virginia has to offer,” state Secretary of Commerce and Trade Maurice Jones said in the release.
“Programs like this will continue to diversify the economy in this region and attract visitors and jobs” to localities, McAuliffe said. “When we invest in our tourism businesses, we are helping to build a new Virginia economy and make the Commonwealth the best place to live, work, and raise a family.”
To receive a VTC grant, a tourism venue had to partner with at least two other entities, the release showed. Caldwell said the speedway’s partners were the Martinsville-Henry County Chamber of Commerce and the Martinsville-Henry County Economic Development Corp.’s Tourism Division.
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