(KIWA Staff Photo)Okoboji, Iowa (RI) — Tourism officials estimate more than 720,000 people visited the Iowa Great Lakes this summer, a slight decline from last year’s total.
Kiley Zankowski, executive director of Vacation Okoboji, says visitor numbers held strong despite economic pressures.
As expected, the Fourth of July weekend was the busiest of the summer, drawing an estimated 90,000 visitors.
The seven natural lakes that make up the Iowa Great Lakes cover about 13,000 acres with 70 miles of shoreline. Dickinson County has roughly 6,000 registered boats and about 450 hotels, resorts, and lodging properties for visitors.
Zankowski says most visitors come from Sioux Falls, Sioux City, Omaha, Des Moines, and Minneapolis, but more travelers are arriving from Chicago, Kansas City, and Wisconsin.
