(Arnolds Park)– The Iowa Great Lakes Area Chamber of Commerce has been awarded $920 from the Western Iowa Tourism Region for billboard advertising for the University of Okoboji Winter Games.
The region works with the local tourism office, Iowa Department of Economic Development to offer a competitive grant program to assist local events, attractions and businesses with promotion, advertising and educational programming to increase their competitiveness in the tourism marketplace.
Volunteers from the industry evaluate and award grant dollars to deserving projects in the 36-county western Iowa Tourism Region.
The Regional Director, Michele Walker, reports that western Iowa continues to see an increase in private and public investment in tourism-related projects and services and that the industry, through the Travel Federation of Iowa, continues to work on the local, state and national levels to talk about the economic significance of tourism by sharing facts about the increase in local and state tax revenue and jobs.
The 200-member organization is funded by the Iowa Department of Economic Development, County Board of Supervisors in the region and private memberships.
