Alicia is on to her next adventure as the workforce development director at the Council Bluffs Chamber of Commerce, but before she left we had her answer some questions about her time with us at the Council Bluffs Convention & Visitors Bureau.
Why did you choose to work with the CBCVB?
At the age of 16, I started working in hospitality and fell in love with the industry. I continued my hospitality career for 18 years; expanding my knowledge and continuing to grow and climb through the rankings. In 2018, I received the opportunity to shift gears from hospitality to tourism. I couldn't wait to expand my experiences and continue on my professional development journey. Starting at the CBCVB with a hospitality background allowed me to jump in and hit the ground running as the director of sales.
What does this town and its tourism industry mean to you?
I was raised in Council Bluffs and have always been passionate about seeing it thrive. It is hard for me to find strong enough words to express my admiration towards our town and, more importantly, the people who live here. Tourism is a fundamental piece of community development and growth. It has been a real pleasure to work in the tourism industry. I am excited to see what events my successor will bring to our UNbelievable city!
What have you enjoyed about working here?
It has been exciting to improve our community's recognition of our organization and of the benefits that events bring to Council Bluffs. I have enjoyed working with many Council Bluffs organizations and businesses to bring events to CB. I also have enjoyed meeting and learning from tourism and economic development professionals around Iowa.
What has the CBCVB achieved since you've been here?
It has been a fun and evolving experience the whole time! We moved out of the library into our own building, which allowed us to start preparing to be a visitor center in conjunction with being a convention and visitors bureau. We have seen many award-winning updates made to our website. We were consistently awarded the Regional Sports Authority Grant that enables us to continue to bring robust sporting events to CB. One of my favorite achievements has been the rebranding and image recognition of our backyard marketing initiative, "Bring it to CB." This initiative aims to educate residents about the venues, hotels, and attractions available to host events right here in CB. We have received several event referrals due to the rebranding of this initiative. Lastly, but surely not least, we survived the initial impact of COVID-19, showing our team's resilience.
What do you hope to see the CBCVB achieve in the future?
I hope to see the CBCVB continue on its path of forward-thinking. I hope that they find a new director of sales passionate about our community who can work with our many partners to bring robust events to CB that continuously increase our hotel/motel tax collection year over year. After COVID-19, I look forward to seeing them open the visitor center.
