Des Moines, Iowa — State officials are buying more ad time on Facebook and YouTube to market Iowa nationally as a destination for tourists and upgrading the state-maintained “Travel Iowa” website.
Governor Kim Reynolds says it means adding more video from top tourist spots like the Loess Hills and the Iowa State Fair.
That includes a new, one million dollar state-funded initiative with the Iowa Restaurant Association and Iowa Hotel and Lodging Association to market Iowa as a destination for business travel, festivals and sporting events. Reynolds was the opening speaker at the Iowa Tourism Conference, the first time in two years the conference is being held in-person.
A video series is being launched called “The Soul of Iowa” that had an initial showing Tuesday night in Des Moines.
Reynolds says the state has used federal pandemic relief funds to make unprecedented investments in tourism. Last month, the governor awarded Iowa’s commercial airports 100 million dollars in federal funding and this month she announced another 100 million dollars in pandemic relief would be handed out as grants to upgrade existing tourist sites and build new ones. The governor says more than 41 million adults visited Iowa in 2021.
Reynolds says that’s a stat that shows it makes sense to do more to promote winter travel destinations in the state.
