SEP 30 DEADLINE - NATIVE Act Tribal Tourism Cooperative Agreement

This announcement continues and enhances past efforts to formalize a role for an organization or entity to serve as a facilitator between the Federal government led by the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Commerce, and the tribal tourism industry representing Indian Tribes, Tribal organizations, and Native Hawaiian organizations to help identify and facilitate the delivery of existing Federal assets, programs, technical assistance and resources to support the capacity building of the tribal tourism industry to participate fully in the U.S. tourism industry.

This opportunity is authorized by the Native American Tourism and Improving Visitor Experience Act of 2016 (Public Law 114-221) (NATIVE Act) in partnership with the federal government. The Department of the Interior, through Indian Affairs has been engaged in significant regionally focused Tribal tourism efforts since the inception of the NATIVE Act. The NATIVE Act requires identification of a means for delivering and coordinating Federal technical assistance and resources in collaboration with Federal partners, including the Secretary of the Interior, Secretary of Commerce and other Federal agencies and entities with tourism expertise.

The Department of the Interior, through the Office of Indian Affairs, has engaged in significant regionally focused Tribal tourism efforts since the inception of the NATIVE Act, including awarding in 2019 a multi-year cooperative agreement focused on strengthening collaboration and coordination related to travel and tourism on Tribal and Federal lands. This announcement continues and enhances past efforts to formalize a role for an organization or entity to serve as a facilitator between the Federal government led by the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Commerce, and the tribal tourism industry representing Indian Tribes, Tribal organizations, and Native Hawaiian organizations to help identify and facilitate the delivery of existing Federal assets, programs, technical assistance and resources to support the capacity building of the tribal tourism industry to participate fully in the U.S. tourism industry. The NATIVE Act requires identifying a means for delivering and coordinating Federal technical assistance to tribes in collaboration with Federal partners and other entities with tourism expertise. The successful entity or organization will support a five-zone implementation in Alaska, Hawaii, Southwest, Northwest, and Eastern zones. The five-zone approach may be implemented through sub-awards and partnerships with subject matter experts or consultants that may include, but are not limited to universities and colleges, private consulting firms, and nonacademic non-profit entities.