The Storm Lake City Council this week approved the City’s tourism report for 2023.
The City developed a travel and tourism initiative last year. According to the report, King’s Pointe Resort generated 1.7 million dollars in revenue from June through August of last year. Over the last 12 months, King’s Pointe posted over 4.5 million dollars in revenue, an increase of nearly nine percent from the previous year.
City of Storm Lake Communications Coordinator Dana Larsen said water is a big selling point for tourists…
Larsen said research shows that tourists want things to do as much as they want to go sightseeing…
Larsen said the City and King’s Pointe draw many visitors from the west, especially from Sioux City and Sioux Falls.
According to the report, Storm Lake hotel/motel sales totaled 8.26 million dollars from November of 2022 through August of 2023. The City of Storm Lake received over 170 thousand dollars in hotel/motel tax during the summer months last year, up about 15 thousand during the same period in 2022. With one month left in 2023, the City was on track to collect around 425 thousand dollars in hotel/motel tax, which would be a record.
Tourism spending in Buena Vista County increased nearly 35 percent in 2021. from the previous COVID year, and increased an additional eight percent in 2022 to 39 million dollars in total traveler revenue.
Buena Vista County represents 0.6 percent of all tourism revenue in Iowa, tied for 23rd highest among the state’s 99 counties.
