Here are the most important updates this week:
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Catch Up: Watch the Iowa Tourism Office Update Webinar
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Thank you to all who were able to join us for the Iowa Tourism Update webinar on July 24. The webinar included details on the next Iowa Tourism Grant cycle, a recap of IPW 2025 and insights about new data through Adara and AirDNA. If you were unable to join live, you can watch the webinar recording here.
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Register Now for the Next Tourism Insider Meeting
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Join partners in Webster City for the next Tourism Insider Meeting on Thursday, August 28, 2025.
The day will include a building transformations panel that will share stories of the three renovation projects creating new attractions and spaces for Webster City, an art walk tour plus an exclusive tour of the community betterment nonprofit LIFT WC, a $3 million renovation of the Historic Elks Building.
Hotel rooms are available for attendees at a rate of $100 + tax at the newly remodeled AmericInn Webster City. To book a room, please call the hotel at 515.832.3999 and use code "Webster City Chamber."
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Iowa Tourism Office Measures Marketing ROI with Adara
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Earlier this year, the Iowa Tourism Office began measuring website and digital marketing ROI with Adara. The platform measures hotel and flight bookings generated by digital marketing exposures. In the first half of 2025, tourism marketing has generated $45 million in hotel revenue in Iowa, with 189,908 bookings tracked back to marketing exposures. More details will continue to be available in the future. You can watch the most recent Iowa Tourism Office Update webinar for additional details and statistics.
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Short-Term Rental Data Available by Community
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The Iowa Tourism Office is partnering with AirDNA to provide information on Iowa’s short-term rental vacation properties. Currently, the state has 5,806 short-term rental listings and this number has grown by 27% over the last two years. AirDNA uses data from AirBnb, VRBO and other short-term rental listing sites to provide this data.
You can watch the most recent Iowa Tourism Office Update webinar for more details.
The Iowa Tourism Office is also offering a discounted co-op rate of $2,500. Partners can purchase a license to access their community/county data, as well as up to 25 competitive markets. Data is available dating back to 2015. Dashboards are updated monthly. Please complete this form if you are interested in participating in the AirDNA co-op.
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The State of the American Traveler Update
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Recognized as one of the nation's leading travel studies of American leisure travelers, The State of the American Traveler features quarterly research of over 4,000+ adult travelers. The most recent report included survey information that was collected June 16-28. Here are some highlights:
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- Top line
- Traveler financial sentiment approved over last month
- Recession fears increased slightly
- Expectations for travel abroad rebounded sharply, as did expected travel budgets
- Data
- 37% says now is a good time/very good time to spend on travel
- 61% says leisure travel is high priority in budget
- Travel budgets remain strong; mean = $5,979; record high
- 48% expect to travel internationally in the next year
- Recessionary concerns increased slightly this month; 49% agree/strongly agree US will enter recession in next six months
- 66% expect to change their behavior to deal with economic concerns: will choose more affordable destinations; use reward programs to save money; travel less frequently; reduce spending on activities, attractions and accommodations; choose to drive vs fly; shorten length of trip
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Nearly 60% feel travel is a worthwhile investment even in an economic downturn
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Registration Open for the 2025 CenStates TTRA Chapter Conference
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Attend the 2025 TTRA CenStates Chapter Conference in Ann Arbor, Michigan, on October 22-24. The agenda is jam packed with sessions focused on tourism research plus networking opportunities with industry leaders and vendors for participants to share ideas and discuss challenges. Discover the potential for your tourism business and learn how to gain valuable insights and make informed decisions. Early bird registration rates end August 8.
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Iowa Wine, Beer and Distillery Passports Relaunched
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Last week, the Iowa Wine, Beer and Distillery Passports were relaunched. The passports are free for breweries, wineries and distilleries (plus cideries) to participate in, and free for customers to use. They are intended to help drive visitation and support the industries. The passports are gamified, so users can earn points, access special deals and earn prizes. Digital campaigns promoting the passports and our wine, beer and spirits content are managed through the Iowa Wine, Beer and Spirits Promotion Board in addition to being featured regularly through Travel Iowa marketing campaigns.
To help promote your businesses who participate, please consider using the social media toolkits and flyers. Also, please sign up and use the passes to explore Iowa's fantastic wineries, breweries and distilleries.
If you have businesses who are not participating and wish to help get them connected, please reach out to Stephanie Neppl (stephanie.neppl@iowaeda.com).
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Helpful Tools to Organize Grant Opportunities
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Data is like gold. The data the Iowa Tourism Office has available for partners can help you respond to the hard questions in grants that you might not otherwise be able to answer and get the points to improve your grant score. Campaigns are easier to justify, markets become logical and economic impact questions are easier to answer.
Use data from Adara to demonstrate how marketing impacts visitation and traveler spending. Arrivalist data will help you identify your target audiences and elevate your projects impact. The Economic Impact Report can help you show how investments in infrastructure and marketing translate into public dollars in Iowa’s counties.
Featured Resource:
The Iowa Tourism Office has Tourism Liaisons that are available to help you understand how data can inform your marketing, how you can use data to help measure the success of your campaign and to talk through how data can elevate grant applications. Contact Lora Friest (lora.friest@iowaeda.com) or Stephanie Neppl (stephanie.neppl@iowaeda.com) if you want to take a deeper dive into smart tourism and data analysis.
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Visit traveliowa.com/industry-partners for more information
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Iowa Tourism Office
1963 Bell Avenue, Ste 200 | Des Moines, IA 50315 US
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1963 Bell Avenue, Suite 200 | Des Moines, IA 50315 US
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