VisitScotland will distribute funding worth up to £28.8 million to the tourism and events industry as part of a multimillion-pound Scottish Government support package for businesses impacted by the spread of the Omicron COVID variant.

The funding includes up to £19.8 million for events businesses, which will be distributed by VisitScotland and its EventScotland team on behalf of the Scottish Government.

The fund will support events businesses directly affected by the public health measures introduced in December 2021 to limit the rapid spread of the Omicron variant.

VisitScotland is committed to ensuring it is as simple as possible for businesses to access the money, and is working on a process to ensure the funding goes to the businesses most in need. To help funding reach businesses in the quickest way possible, a top-up payment will be made to eligible businesses previously supported in 2021.

Eligible businesses, which have previously received support through the Event Industry Support Funds or the Pivotal Event Businesses Fund, will receive top-up payments through the Omicron top up funding for events businesses and will be contacted on Friday 28 January. There will be no application process.

Awards will be made to eligible businesses based on their pre-COVID annual turnover, as follows:

• turnover of £10,000 to £24,999 = £2,000 grant
• turnover of £25,000 to £49,999 = £3,500 grant
• turnover of £50,000 to £99,999 = £5,000 grant
• turnover of £100,000 to £499,999 = £10,000 grant
• turnover of £500,000 to £999,999 = £25,000 grant
• turnover of £1,000,000 or more = £50,000 grant

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