Here are the most important updates this week:
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Fall Fishing in Mitchell County
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July Tourism Webinar Features New Outdoor Recreation Marketing
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Join the July 23 Tourism Office Update Webinar at 2:00 p.m. The webinar will feature presentations from three Iowa Tourism Marketing grantees, Iowa's County Conservation System, Pottawattamie Conservation Foundation and Bird Friendly Iowa. These partners secured new assets, including photographs, drone footage and itineraries. Join the webinar to learn how they leveraged funds, used their new assets, what they are up to next and how you may be able to partner with them in the future.
The Iowa Tourism Office will also provide an update about the newly formed Iowa Office of Outdoor Recreation.
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Next Tourism Insider Meeting in Buchanan County Will Feature Downtown Revitalization and Private Tour of Cedar Rock State Park
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Buchanan County Tourism is hosting the next Tourism Insider Meeting on September 1st. The draft agenda can be found on the Industry Partners website. The day starts in Independence and includes a panel on downtown revitalization, but attendees will also be treated to a private tour of Cedar Rock State Park in Quasqueton.
Register early to save your space. Hotel rooms are available at Comfort Inn & Suites Independence at a rate of $121 + tax. To book, please call the hotel on 319.334.6400 and ask for the Tourism Insider Meeting rate. The room block is available until August 18, 2026.
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IEDA/IFA Social Media Manager Erin Swisher
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Introducing Social Media Manager Erin Swisher
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Before joining Travel Iowa, Erin built social content for regional and national brands. Today, she is bringing that trend-forward approach to telling Iowa's story through content that's relatable, entertaining and designed for the way people actually scroll. By blending humor, shared experiences and storytelling, she helps turn everyday Iowa moments into content people want to watch, share and talk about. 📱🌽✨
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Welcome to Iowa Social Stop!
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Social Media Manager Erin Swisher will be contributing to the e-traveler in a new way with a segment called Iowa Social Stop. It will be a place to take a quick look at what is going on around Iowa, including where to find partner highlights and shout-outs, standout videos and social content, tips and tricks, upcoming content opportunities, and a look at what's performing well across Travel Iowa channels. Think of it as a place to celebrate big social wins, spark new ideas and showcase even more of the people, places and experiences that make Iowa worth sharing.
To kick things off, here's Iowa's hottest post of the summer—and not just because of the humidity. 🔥💦
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Insight from Goldie: Festivals Don't Travel Solo
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Festivals act as trip anchors, but travelers want more. Communities that pair events with a nearby trail, brewery, restaurant, or attraction can turn one-day visitors into overnight guests. May through June 2026, over a third of festival-related questions for Goldie on TravelIowa.com included follow-up questions asking about nearby dining, lodging, or attractions.
Attending a festival may be the central focus of a trip plan but many festival goers are "experience focused" and want to know what else there is to do nearby. In May–June, over a third of festival-related questions for Goldie included follow-ups specifically asking about "nearby experiences".
From Farmington Strawberry Festival visitors seeking entertainment options to Pella Tulip Festival visitors wanting lodging options in the area, communities that pair their events with a specific nearby lodging and other entertainment make it easy and appealing for travelers to extend stays.
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The festival interest them, but visitors want to know more. Actions you can take to make the most of this travel planning insight include the following:
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- When entering events on TravelIowa.com make sure restaurants, lodging, other events and other nearby opportunities are also present. Nearby experiences and businesses show up as “Also in the Area” below each event listing – so having a strong presence on TravelIowa.com in general will help.
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When writing event description for Travel Iowa, incorporate one nearby attraction or activity (outdoor, dining, cultural, or entertainment) that naturally pairs with it. Then promote them together. Example: A summer music festival + a scenic trail or local brewery = a complete weekend experience Goldie can recommend as a package.
- Real examples from the Goldie data include:
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- WW Homestead Dairy Cheese Curd Fest + Art in the Park at Heritage Park
- Nordic Fest (Decorah) + Mississippi River attractions
- Iowa State Fair + hotel availability
- Cycling through Des Moines looking for craft beer stops + biergarten visits
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Maggie Landegent (L), Seth Howard of Sizzle Media (C) and Stephanie Nepple (R)
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Sioux Center Uses Iowa Tourism Co-op Program to Secure New Assets
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Tourism Liaison Stephanie Neppl joined Sizzle Media’s Seth Howard and Sioux Center’s Communications Coordinator Maggie Landegent to capture new video footage as part of the Iowa Tourism Office’s FY26 Co-op marketing program. The new video assets will show off the community’s many family-friendly experiences, including Siouxnami Waterpark, Casey's Bakery, the new STEM room at the Sioux Center Public Library and Children's Park.
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Des Moines and Pella Shine in New York Post Article
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Travel writer Perri Ormont Blumberg recently recommended Des Moines and Pella in her story about Summer Family Fun in the print edition of the New York Post (print circulation is around 475k), advising travelers to "Fly In, Not Over" and to "Skip the coasts - these Midwest getaways deliver big". Iowa definitely received the most detailed feature out of the others in the article with accolades for historic sites, restaurants, cultural destinations, art, performances and more.
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Finding Open and Upcoming Grants
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If you are new to the grant world and want to find grants for your organization or community, there are websites and grant lists that can help. The most accurate websites are governmental sites that provide information about their own grants. They each have their own quirks, may not actually be as all-inclusive as they appear and typically include many grant opportunities you will never explore. However, these sites may help you find a new funding sources for that really important project. Some organizations compile lists of grants they know about that would be relevant to their members or partners. Use them, but beware. As a secondary source, they can be inaccurate or outdated.
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IowaGrants.gov has a "current funding opportunities" page that provides a limited list of state grants. It notes which specific agency has the funding available, provides due dates, indicates whether or not a pre-application is needed and other basic information. A link with more details is then provided for each opportunity. This is an accurate and useful list because it comes directly from the source. However, it is not all inclusive. For example, the Iowa Tourism Marketing Grant is not included.
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Grants.gov is the primary grant website and portal for federal grant seekers and applicants. It is a good place to look for federal grants when you have time to kill. Just click on the "Search Grants" tab and it will take you to a page that allows you to search for specific opportunities. If you don't know what you are looking for, that page also provides a list of open and/or upcoming grants. At any given time, there may be over a thousand opportunities listed, most of which will never apply to what you are doing. The strategy here is to use the filter feature and then skim to locate those that do apply.
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The Iowa DNR "Grant and Funding" webpage is an example of a grant resource provided by a specific agency who has organized their own opportunities for you. Although they cover several different focus areas, this page is very helpful for cities and counties. It provides a description, context and links to more detailed information for each grant.
- The Iowa League of Cities has a grant page on their website. This private organization tells you the last time the page was updated and includes state grants across several agencies. It is not an all inclusive list, but it is comprehensive enough to be very useful.
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Iowa Tourism Office
1963 Bell Avenue, Ste 200 | Des Moines, IA 50315 US
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