POSTED: Thursday, April 21, 2011 - 5:46pm
UPDATED: Thursday, April 21, 2011 - 6:30pm
BATON ROUGE, La (NBC33) — One year and one day after the BP explosion some parishes will get their first payments to help restore the tourism industry. 17 parishes will get their first BP tourism check of just over $1 million.
Lt. Governor Jay Dardenne made the announcement today. Lafayette Parish is the first to have its plan for the money approved. They will use just over $200,000 to advertise the famous festivals held there.
Parks and recreation are other areas that will gain special attention with the money awarded.
This is the first of six total payments those parishes will get from the $30 million payment that will come from BP
“The BP funding will supplement ongoing efforts to advertise, market and brand Louisiana,” Lt. Governor Dardenne said in a press release. “We have afforded great flexibility to the parishes to develop a plan for the expenditure of these funds, making certain that these efforts are coordinated and include our Pick Your Passion theme.”