New Iowa travel guide is out

The new year is here and so are the new editions of the Iowa Travel Guide. Nancy Landess, manager of the Iowa Travel Office, says they’ve printed 250-thousand of the free booklets which provide information about the state’s communities, attractions, lodging facilities, recreation areas and more. The 176-page guide is organized into ten travel regions so people who are traveling to southeast or northwest Iowa, for example, will be able to see what other attractions are underway wherever they’re headed. While January is more closely associated with frigid temperatures, Landess says there’s plenty to do around Iowa this month. From eagle-watching along the Mississippi River to attending the Winter Games at the Iowa Great Lakes, Landess says the guide is full of travel ideas. She says the guides are free and easy to obtain.The Travel Guide is available by calling 800-345-IOWA or visiting www.traveliowa.com. Copies are also available at any of the state’s 21 welcome centers. Landess says more than 17-million people visit Iowa each year, making tourism a four-point-two billion dollar industry in Iowa, employing more than 61-thousand people statewide and generating more than 243-million dollars in state taxes.