Chapter 23A is hereby amended by inserting after section 13U the following section:-

Section 13V. (a) There shall be established a grant program to be known as the cultural tourism marketing fund program for financial assistance to arts organizations, cultural groups and historic sites for tourism marketing and promotion. The program shall be administered by the Massachusetts office of travel and tourism, in consultation with the Massachusetts cultural council. The program will provide financial support for arts organizations, cultural groups and historic sites to attract and increase local and regional tourism economic activity to their events and locations.

(b) Funds from the cultural tourism fund program shall be used to strengthen and elevate the cultural, geographic and creative diversity in the commonwealth. Individual grants amounts shall be determined by the Massachusetts office of travel and tourism in coordination with the Massachusetts cultural council and grants shall be distributed according to criteria that shall include, but shall not be limited to: (i) geographic diversity; (ii) cultural diversity; (iii) inclusion of programs that seek to amplify the stories of historically marginalized or underrepresented cultures; (iv) the percentage of the applicant’s existing expenditures on marketing and promotional activities; provided, however, that the program shall prioritize entities that demonstrate a lack of existing resources for marketing and promotional activities.

Eligible grant expenditures shall include: tourism publications, videos, CDs and DVDs, media advertisements, billboards and signage, brochure distribution services, consumer travel show expenses, group tour marketplace expenses, meeting or convention and sports marketing trade shows and expo expenses, media press kits, sponsorship of tourism trade shows and events, bid fees to assist in bringing events sciences; web site design expenses; and for-profit creative businesses that are headquartered in the commonwealth that provide marketing services and focus on the state.

Eligible grant recipients shall be: nonprofit organizations whose primary mission is the promotion of arts, culture, the humanities or interpretive sciences; nonprofit and for profit entities who produce and present art, culture, the humanities or interpretive sciences; and co-operatives or partnerships that include not less than 70 per cent artists, creative workers or culture workers.

(c) Funding for the cultural tourism marketing fund program shall be equal to at least 1 per cent of the annual receipts of the Tourism Fund.