eTraveler: January 12, 2022

January 12, 2022

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NEWS FROM THE IOWA TOURISM OFFICE January 12, 2022

2022 Tourism Award Nominations Forms Open

The Iowa Tourism Office is proud to host the annual Iowa Tourism Awards. This year’s awards will recognize the amazing work and innovation by Iowa’s outstanding tourism organizations that have positively contributed to the experience of our visitors. These awards represent the highest honor given for tourism in Iowa. Award winners will be announced on Wednesday, April 20, during the 2022 Iowa Tourism Conference.

VIEW THE GUIDELINES

Tourism Office Bi-Monthly Webinars Kick Off Tomorrow

Join the Iowa Tourism Office for 2022's first bi-monthly webinar Thursday, January 20 at 2 p.m.

Details on how to join the series of meetings:
Before each meeting, join from your computer by clicking here
Or call in (audio only) 515-348-6300; Phone Conference ID: 673 183 458#

The dates for the 2022 series are:

Thursday, January 20
Thursday, March 17
Thursday, May 19
Thursday, July 21
Thursday, September 15
Thursday, November 17

ADD THE SERIES TO YOUR CALENDAR - iCal

Partner Feature: Vacation Okoboji Integrates Build a Trip

Vacation Okoboji worked with Travel Iowa to integrate the tourism office’s Build a Trip tool into their website, with Okoboji as the ending destination. Visitors to vacationokoboji.com can now enter their starting location and find road trip destinations along their route to Okoboji. Check it out here. If you’d like to integrate this tool into your website, contact Amy Zeigler (amy.zeigler@iowaeda.com) for more details.

New Program Offers Grants for Sports Tourism Marketing

The Enhance Iowa Board announced they will accept applications for the new Sports Tourism program starting February 1. The program will provide financial assistance for projects that market or promote professional, collegiate and amateur level sporting events that occur in Iowa. Funding for the program was appropriated during the 2021 legislative session.

LEARN MORE

A webinar will be held on Friday, January 14, at 10 a.m. to explain the program and answer questions from potential applicants.

Join from your computer by clicking here.
Or call in (audio only) 515-348-6300; Phone Conference ID: 898 975 63#

Visit Quad Cities Creates QC Pro Training Program

Visit Quad Cities created a virtual training program, QC Pro, with a goal to build a broader team of Quad Citizens to positively impact the in-destination experience by becoming QC brand champions. The program has three levels: QC Pro, QC Advance Pro and QC Elite Pro. The QC Pro level includes watching three interactive videos that are emailed consecutively as each video is completed. A QC Pro digital badge, toolkit and certificate are sent once all three videos are completed. The Advance Pro level uses the Bandwango platform and involves a scavenger hunt-style trail. The QC Elite Pro level will involve Certified Tourism Ambassador (CTA) educational training that will be released in Spring of 2022. More than 200 people have participated in the program since its launch in August. The QC Pro and QC Advanced Pro levels are free of charge to participate. There will be a small cost involved for the CTA training. To learn more about the program click here. If you have any questions, feel free to email cdoehler@visitquadcities.com.

To help share ideas from across the state, the Iowa Tourism Office has created a folder for all industry partners to upload and share their work. This folder will be linked in the "Tools" section on traveliowa.com/industry-partners. Thank you to those that have added to the folder!

SHARE YOUR MARKETING PROJECTS HERE

Iowa in the News

Here are some exciting media highlights featuring Iowa.

Lost Island Theme Park was featured in Silicon Valley's Top 22 for 2022: Best new attractions coming to U.S. theme parks
Brent’s Trail in the Loess Hills was named one of the 50 Best Hikes in the U.S. on Backpacker.com
RAGBRAI made the top of the list for the Best Road Events and Destinations for 2022 on TheProsCloset.com
Newton was highlighted in USA Today's article on 2022 IndyCar Series schedule: Dates, times, TV and streaming info for this season's races

New Partnership Welcome Center in Council Bluffs

Effective January 10, 2022, the Council Bluffs Welcome Center housed within the Council Bluffs Convention & Visitors Bureau Office, became one of 12 partnership welcome centers in Iowa. This location was the recipient of a contract transfer from the Western Historic Trails Welcome Center location, which closed indefinitely in 2020. To learn more and send your locations brochures and publications, click here.

Upcoming Meetings

January 18, 2022 - iTIP Legislative Night
January 20, 2022 - Iowa Tourism Office Virtual Update
February 1, 2022 - TFI's Annual Legislative Showcase
February 9, 2022 - WITR Membership Meeting
March 9, 2022 - CITR Membership Meeting

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

U.S. Travel Association Upcoming Webinars and Toolkits

January 20 at noon: State of the Workforce: 2022 Challenges and Opportunities
February 2 at noon: Virtual Update on the State of the American Traveler
Download the new toolkit for National Plan for Vacation Day on January 25

Visit www.traveliowa.com/industry

for more information.

Iowa Tourism Office
1963 Bell Avenue, Ste 200 | Des Moines, IA 50315 US

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