The Destination Forward Grant Program is administered by the New Mexico Tourism Department. The program is designed to support the development and enhancement of tourism infrastructure projects throughout the state of New Mexico. The overarching goal of this competitive grant is to contribute to the long-term destination development of community-based, sustainable tourism infrastructure. The program aims to make communities more viable and attractive to tourists by enhancing local offerings while promoting environmental sustainability.

The FY26 grant cycle is scheduled to run from July 1, 2025, to June 30, 2026. Applications for the FY26 cycle will be accepted between March 10, 2025, at 8:00am and April 8, 2025, at 5:00pm Mountain Time. The application must be submitted via the Submittable platform, which is compatible with the latest versions of Chrome and Firefox browsers. An application webinar and associated slides are available to provide guidance for prospective applicants.

Eligible applicants include local governments, special districts, political subdivisions, tribal governments, and municipalities. Private applicants may be eligible if they can demonstrate a public benefit from their project and if they partner with a public fiscal agent. This ensures that the funding supports projects that serve the broader community and align with public interests.

The grant supports a wide range of project types aimed at improving tourism infrastructure. Eligible projects include the development of outdoor recreation infrastructure, improvements to recreational and transportation facilities, signage and wayfinding, tourism attraction facilities, and accommodations such as camping and RV sites. Additional eligible activities include dark skies viewing areas, redevelopment of historic or cultural sites, public art installations on tourism infrastructure, fairgrounds and event venues, agritourism facilities, and innovative technological enhancements that showcase New Mexico's culture and natural beauty.

The program's goals are to increase visitation, enhance the visitor and resident experience, spur local economic development, promote New Mexico as a sustainable tourism destination on both national and global scales, and improve the positive environmental impact of tourism activities. Applications are individually reviewed by a designated Grant Review Panel that assesses each proposal based on relevance, impact, and feasibility. Awards may be made in full, in part, or not at all depending on the quality of applications received.

Contact information for the New Mexico Tourism Department is provided as follows: 491 Old Santa Fe Trail, Santa Fe, New Mexico 87501. While a specific contact person is not named, further resources including sample applications, guidelines, and webinars are available on the department’s website to assist applicants.