Island County to open 2027 tourism grant applications July 1

Island County will open its 2027 tourism promotion grant applications July 1, giving nonprofits, event organizers and tourism groups a month to compete for lodging-tax dollars that are meant to bring visitors, bookings and spending into the county.

The county said the 2027 Island County 2% Hotel-Motel Tax Tourism Promotions application packet will be available beginning July 1, and the application period will run through July 31. The process will be fully online, and no paper applications will be accepted. The call for proposals will be posted in June.

The money comes from overnight lodging in the unincorporated areas of Island County, which means the grant pool is tied directly to visitor stays on Whidbey and Camano islands. In the county’s 2024 call for proposals, officials estimated $730,000 in lodging-tax revenue for grant allocation, with up to 50% of the total available for one-time capital funding requests.

State law gives a clear picture of which projects are most likely to fit the program. Washington law allows lodging-tax revenues to pay for tourism marketing, the marketing and operations of special events and festivals designed to attract tourists, and tourism-related facilities. In practical terms, that puts the strongest emphasis on projects that can show more visitors, longer stays and a visible return for local businesses and community life.

For Island County, the policy question is not just who gets funded, but what the county gets back. The grants are intended to support and promote the tourism economy and regenerative tourism in Island County, a pitch that ties public tax dollars to room nights, downtown traffic, restaurant sales and the kind of events that keep Coupeville, Whidbey Island and Camano Island on the calendar for travelers.

The Lodging Tax Advisory Committee, which reviews the program, meets as needed. Recent committee minutes list Janet St. Clair, Hannah Bates, Tom Felvey, Barry Wenaas and Paul Foster as members. The committee page also points applicants to county staff, including biccsec@islandcountywa.gov and 360-679-7353.

Washington’s Department of Revenue describes the special hotel-motel tax as a consumer tax on transient lodging charges for stays of less than 30 consecutive days. In Island County, that tax is turning into a summer application window and a reminder that tourism promotion remains a regular public investment, not a one-time grant announcement.