The Iowa Tourism Office plans to begin running an ad campaign in Chicago TV market next week. Iowa Tourism Office manager, Nancy Landess, says this is the first time in six years Iowa has run tourism ads in Chicago. Landess says Illinois is the number state for tourists from out of state, and they want to keep the state at the top of the minds of Illinois residents to get them to visit attractions and events in Iowa.
Landess says gambling funds will help pay for the ads and they asked six cities to chip in $20,000 each for the ads. Landess says the six communities then picked three things in their towns to be filmed for the four 30-second ads. The ads will feature attractions and events in Cedar Rapids, Council Bluffs, Des Moines, Dubuque, Okoboji and the Quad Cities.
Landess says the high price of gas and airline tickets makes Iowa an attractive tourist destination for people in Illinois. Landess says, "The trend is positive for people to think about staying closer to home, and we just want to make sure that Iowa is top of mind when they’re thinking about places to go." The ads begin running on April 14th and will continue for seven weeks.