Downtown Alliance Announces Winners of Walking Tour Incubator Grant Program

The Downtown Alliance has announced the five winners of its Walking Tour Incubator Grant Program. The winners were chosen from a pool of over 50 applicants offering a diverse range of submissions. Each winner will receive a grant of up to $12,500 to help develop, launch and scale their walking tour in Lower Manhattan.

The winners include:

• Christopher Street Tours: a historical walking tour featuring some of Lower Manhattan’s most pivotal sites in LGBTQ+ past, present and future. 
• South Street Seaport Museum: a journey around the South Street Seaport Historic District to learn about some of the lesser known and more turbulent tales from our working waterfront past. 
• Inside Out Tours: a specialty food tour celebrating the artisan food vendors throughout the area.
• Awesome Walks: an immersive walking tour focusing on the future of the neighborhood and featuring conversations with local business owners and community leaders. 
• Vivace Tours: a tour that showcases Lower Manhattan’s role in the formation of many faith communities.

In addition to the grant money, winners will also receive two one-on-one sessions with tourism industry leaders, lifetime access to an educational curriculum specifically designed for tour businesses, and the insider knowledge, marketing insights and connections of the Downtown Alliance, which will be working together with them every step of the way.

The incubator period of the program will begin around May 10 and last approximately two months. Tours will officially launch by mid-summer. For more information please visit the incubator page.