(Arnolds Park)– Tourism officials in the Iowa Great Lakes are getting a better handle on the numbers from this past summer. Kylie Zankowski of Vacation Okoboji says there were over 700,000 visitors with four million visits, a four percent increase over the 2024 season. She says the average stay was about five days with the top three visitation days in July…
“The fourth of July followed by the 20th and the 26th of July each having 70 to 90,000 visitors just on that one day, which is incredible. But we also had some really strong months seeing anywhere from an 11 percent increase in overnight trips in May to a 39 percent increase in overnight stays in July, so a very, very strong summer, and we’re just really grateful to everyone who helped make it happen.”
Zankowski goes on to explain what goes into compiling the numbers…
“We’re in touch with our lodging partners and able to get weekend occupancy reports all summer long that we can compare year-to-year and we’ve also got some really great data on the rental properties here so we can track how many properties are in our area, the occupancy rate, and really keep an eye on that on a daily basis as well. And then of course, we also have our visitor data, our cell phone data that pings when visitors are in the county so we can see where they’re coming from and better learn how to market to them as well.”
Zankowski adds they’re continuously looking to build on the numbers, adding they’re in the process now forming a marketing plan for the 2026 season…
“We’re hard at work here in the office already working on the 2026 guide and working on our marketing plans for 2026 as well and the data we have is really helpful for us to learn where we should market and really see if our marketing is paying off. We saw a great increase in Minneapolis and Kansas City which were two of our top marketed areas this summer and so it’s really helpful for us to be able to track that, pick some new markets, and then see results from the marketing that we put out there as well.”
Favorable weather is also being attributed to this past summer’s strong numbers.
