During the 2023 Iowa Tourism Conference, the Iowa Tourism Office presented awards recognizing the work and innovation of Iowa’s outstanding tourism organizations. These awards represent the highest honor given for tourism in the state.
We are thrilled to announce that Council Bluffs won two tourism awards! The City was recognized as the Outstanding Community of the year, and Beyond Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience took home the Outstanding Event award.
Council Bluffs attained exceptional accomplishments during 2022 that cultivated and enhanced the economic impact of tourism in Iowa. The achievements included high-performing seasonal travel marketing initiatives, surging web traffic on UNleashCB.com, reopening the Council Bluffs welcome center, a bi-state collaboration to host the Omaha Metropolitan Area Tourism Awards, and several city investments in infrastructure. The City of Council Bluffs also set a new record high for hotel/motel tax collections, a key sign that hospitality is making a robust recovery.
Produced by Paquin Entertainment Group, Beyond Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience was a unique exhibit hosted by the Mid-America Center from June 23, 2022, through September 9, 2022. The traveling exhibit immersed visitors into more than 300 of Vincent Van Gogh’s most significant works of art in a three-dimensional way bringing one of the most influential artists to life. It brought close to 55,000 visitors to the area and put Iowa on the map as a cultural destination.
This is the third time that Council Bluffs has won the Outstanding Community award. In addition to the 2023 award, CB was a recipient in 2017 and 2019. The Council Bluffs Convention & Visitors Bureau brought home ten Iowa Tourism awards since 2014, and we are grateful to the Iowa Tourism Office for hosting this vital award ceremony each year!
