Just in time for the new year, the Iowa Tourism Office has released the 2009 edition of the Iowa Travel Guide. Office manager Nancy Landess says the booklet contains more than 100 new listings.
"In fact, our cover features one of Iowa’s newest attractions. It’s the Honey Creek Destination State Park, located near Lake Rathbun by Centerville," Landess said. The Honey Creek Resort features a 105-room lodge, an indoor water park and an 18-hole golf course. Other new listings in the 2009 guide include the Iowa-80 Trucking Museum in Walcott and the North Raccoon River Water Trail in Sac City.
Every year, thousands of motorists pick up the travel guide at one of 19 Iowa Welcome Centers. The Iowa Tourism Office is also turning to social media tools to market the state’s attractions and accommodations. "We know that people are getting their information to travel in all kinds of ways, so we are on Facebook and Twitter," Landess said. "We hope people will become our fans or followers and there are people giving suggestions all the time on things that you can see or do."
Anyone can get the travel guide mailed to them, free of charge, by calling 1-800-345-IOWA or using the online order form at www.traveliowa.com. The entire 186-page guide is also available for viewing online. Landess says tourism is a six-point-three billion dollar industry in Iowa, employing more than 65,000 people and generating 308-million dollars a year in state taxes.