Tourism Programs and Incentives

• Located on property owned by or leased by the Commonwealth or the federal government; or

• Built with a tourism attraction project​, which costs more than the lodging facility; or

• Restoration or rehabilitation of a historic structure; or

• Construction, restoration, or renovation of a lodging facility having no less than 500 rooms with project costs exceeding $10,000,000; or

• Construction, restoration, or renovation of a facility that is or will be an integral part of a major convention or sports facility with project costs exceeding $6,000,000; or

• Construction, restoration, or renovation of a facility that is or will be located within a 50-mile radius of a property located on the National Register of Historic Places with a current function of recreation and is located within any of the 100 least populated counties in terms of population density.
  

Application and Approval Process

The company submits the application to the Secretary of the Tourism, Arts and Heritage Cabinet.
With the Secretary’s recommendation, the project will go before the Kentucky Tourism Development Finance Authority for preliminary approval. 

With preliminary approval, the Cabinet’s independent consultant will do an in-depth study to make sure the project meets the requirements of the Kentucky Tourism Development Act. The applicant will pay for this study in advance.

Using the consultant’s findings, the Secretary will determine whether to request the Authority to give final approval.
 
Upon final approval from the Authority, an agreement will be signed by the applicant and the Commonwealth, allowing the company to recover the sales tax generated on-site.

The applicant cannot begin construction until after final approval. 

The Kentucky Tourism Development Finance Authority meets once a month to approve incentive requests.  The meetings are held at 1:30 PM on the third Wednesday of every month at 500 Mero Street, Fifth Floor, Frankfort, KY 40601.​