(Arnolds Park)– Tourism officials in the Iowa Great Lakes say they’re very excited about the outlook for the upcoming season. Rebecca Peters of Okoboji Tourism tells KUOO news they’re seeing extremely encouraging results from a marketing campaign they’ve been running outside of the area…
“We’re having a wonderful reach with that and we’re seeing that a lot of people are really eager to travel, especially to the Iowa Great Lakes Area. So with that campaign we’re seeing that that is guiding a lot of people to hotels and to learn more about restaurants, about the attractions, so we’re seeing our hotel reservations right now in a really good spot and it’s looking like it’s going to be definitely a more positive year than last year but hopefully even more of a positive year than what we’ve seen in quite some time. So we’re really excited for the results we’re seeing right now.”
Peters says it’s a far cry from a year ago, at the start of the pandemic…
“A year ago there was just a lot of uncertainty and people were confused about what was happening. They were scared to leave their home ultimately, and travel was not being recommended anywhere in the country. So everyone was putting things on hold and there was just a lot of uncertainty at this time last year. So it’s really fortunate to see that people have a lot more confidence in travel and that they are looking forward to visiting Okoboji. I know the phone calls we’ve been getting in our office are asking what things have changed, what safety measures are still in place, and then also making the comment we love coming to Okoboji but we weren’t able to visit last year and we’re so excited to come back this year. So we are just really looking forward to welcoming people to our community and showing them all of the great things that we have to offer here.”
While the price of gas is up considerably from a year ago, tourism officials don’t think it will serve as much of a hindrance to travel due to the fact many people are anxious to get back out and about.
