The Council Bluffs Convention & Visitors Bureau is so excited to celebrate National Travel & Tourism Week with you from May 7 through May 13, 2023! During the special week, we'll announce the "Best of Pottawattamie County" winners of the 2023 Omaha Metropolitan Area (OMA) Tourism Awards. Today we are sharing information on how important travel and tourism are to our local economy.
Many of you follow our social media pages for ideas of things to do in the city and county, but you may also be one of the many who are not entirely sure what the Council Bluffs Convention & Visitors Bureau (CBCVB) is and what we do.
The CBCVB exists to attract visitors and events to Council Bluffs and Pottawattamie County in efforts to increase sales for local businesses and to increase funds for our local government (plus, visitors paying taxes helps keep taxes lower for locals). Our mission statement says it best:
The Council Bluffs Convention & Visitors Bureau (CBCVB) serves as a catalyst to grow Pottawattamie County’s visitor economy through collaborative sales and marketing, destination advocacy, and sustainable placemaking activities in order to enhance the region’s quality of life.
To the surprise and delight of our clients, the CBCVB offers all of its services for free. All funding comes from a percentage of hotel/motel tax revenue from the City of Council Bluffs. In turn, we work hard to bring quality events to town that will benefit our community.
You may be wondering, who qualifies as a traveler? A traveler is someone who is 50 miles or farther away from their home.
Did you know that travelers spent $308.73 million in Pottawattamie County in 2021?* This includes expenses that are incurred when traveling away from home, such as transportation, lodging, meals, entertainment, and shopping.
The work we do in Council Bluffs impacts the travel economy on the state level. According to Tourism Economics, visitors spent over $6.1 billion across the Iowa economy in 2021. This direct visitor spending impact generated a total economic impact of $9.4 billion in Iowa and generated $1.0 billion in state and local tax revenues in 2021.
Not only does tourism bring money into the state, but it also provided 65,000 jobs in Iowa in 2021.*
A significant aspect of attracting visitors to town and growing our local businesses is sharing what makes Council Bluffs and Pottawattamie County great, and who knows that better than our locals? When sharing a mouthwatering meal at one of our restaurants or a fun day at one of our attractions on social media, use #UNleashCB for a chance to be featured on our social media pages and website! Today, visitors don’t want to hear from advertisers or promoters about what makes a place awesome; they want to hear from the people who live there and its visitors. Let’s get the word out about Council Bluffs and Pottawattamie County and what makes them UNlike anywhere else!
*According to Tourism Economics
