Iowa Tourism Industry partners with UNI to help boost economic impact
The Iowa Tourism Industry is working to boost the profile of tourism in Iowa and sought out the University of Northern Iowa for help. On behalf of the Iowa Economic Development Authority (IEDA) and the Iowa Travel Industry Partners (iTIP), the Institute for Decision Making (IDM) and Strategic Marketing Services (SMS) at UNI have launched a survey to engage tourism industry members in a conversation about how to increase the economic impact of tourism and hospitality in Iowa.
A key imperative of the Iowa Tourism Industry’s strategic plan outlined the need to unify the tourism industry around a shared long-term vision. As part of this initiative, a method of regularly gathering feedback and information from the tourism industry was proposed.
“IDM and SMS are uniquely positioned within UNI’s Business & Community Services to provide economic development tools and market research to organizations like the Iowa Tourism Industry and IEDA,” said Christy Ryken, director of SMS. “We’ve worked closely with these groups to develop a survey that meets their research goals and will provide data collection services as well as recommendations based on the data received.”
The 12-15-minute survey is designed to:
- Gain a better understanding of participants’ awareness of and participation in tourism programming as a travel- and tourism-related business or organization;
- Gauge participants’ perceptions of the value that these Iowa’s tourism programs bring to your business or organization; and
- Identify potential areas for improvement or expansion for the tourism industry.
Results will be provided as a “State of the Iowa Tourism Industry” report and will be presented at the Tourism Conference in March.
If you work in the tourism and hospitality industry and would like to participate, you are invited to complete the survey. The deadline to participate is Friday, March 10, at 5 p.m.
To continue providing programs and services that support Iowa's economic development efforts, such as conducting this survey on behalf of Iowa’s tourism industry, UNI is requesting an additional $400,000 in state appropriations for next fiscal year to enhance UNI's Institute for Decision Making and UNI's Family Business Center.