During fiscal year 2026, Council Bluffs hotels generated $47,604,342.86 in revenue, the third-highest recorded. This resulted in the City of Council Bluffs collecting $3,332,304 in hotel/motel taxes. Both figures represent a 4.65 percent increase year-over-year. These are among the accomplishments Unleash Council Bluffs celebrates for the fiscal year that concluded on June 30, 2026.
Travel and tourism have been recognized as an economic driver for many years. This is the fifth consecutive year hotel/motel taxes have exceeded $3.18 million, which totaled $16,612,831 over that period for the city. According to Tourism Economics, visitor direct spending amounted to more than $334 million in Pottawattamie County and $7.5 billion in the state of Iowa during 2024.
In addition, Unleash Council Bluffs achieved an economic impact of $861,104.67 from 7,293 hotel stays spurred by nine tournaments it sponsored. That was 7.9 percent greater than expected. The sponsorships were made possible with a $75,000 Iowa Tourism Office grant and a $44,841 Iowa West Foundation grant. Overall, Unleash Council Bluffs received $160,000 in grant awards during FY 2026.
Its website, UNleashCB.com, long acknowledged as the city’s community calendar, saw a 42.7 percent leap in event submissions (783 more events) for a total of 2,618, a new high. Website traffic set new records for the number of unique visitors each month from February through June. During May and June, the unique visitors surpassed 50,000 for each month, another first.
In addition, Unleash Council Bluffs earned four statewide awards for local tourism efforts during the fiscal year. Among them are the Only in Iowa Tourism Award for the Union Pacific Railroad Museum; Arts, Culture, & Heritage Tourism Award for Pottawattamie Arts, Culture & Entertainment (PACE); and Joe Taylor Vision Tourism Award for Mark Eckman from the Iowa Travel Industry Partners Foundation. The Nebraska Public Relations Society of America Paper Anvil Award of Merit was bestowed on the rebranding of the Council Bluffs Convention & Visitors Bureau as Unleash Council Bluffs.
“Unleash Council Bluffs works closely with its local partners to reach the outcomes we saw in fiscal year 2026,” said Arian Haddix, president of the Unleash Council Bluffs Board of Directors. “We understand that tourism is a team effort that takes the support of the City of Council Bluffs, local hotels, venues, attractions, Pottawattamie County, and metro partnerships to attain the consistent success achieved this year and look forward to building upon this impact into the coming year.”
Read more about the impact created through Unleash Council Bluffs by viewing the organization's Annual Report.
