Greg Edwards, President & CEO of Catch Des Moines (aka Greater Des Moines Convention & Visitors Bureau) was the guest speaker and gave an update on the mission of the organization which is to increase the number of visitors of all kinds to come to the Des Moines Metro area.
Catch Des Moines is a public/private collaboration and funding comes from the Hotel Motel Tax. Tourism provides 17,000+ jobs. There were 3 million visitors this last year and they spent 3.1 billion dollars. This tally includes all the various events held in the area as well as individuals visiting on their own.
The visitors bureau started within the Des Moines Chamber of Commerce in 1908. The very first such bureau began in Detroit in 1895. “Catch Des Moines” is the result of a branding review. The previous moniker was “See Des Moines” and the thought was that rather than “see” Des Moines, it was more desirable for visitors to experience Des Moines.
Catch Des Moines has four main tourism focus areas: meetings, sports, leisure, and locals. The focus on locals is bringing awareness to those living here and encouraging them to invite organizations they are involved with to hold some of their meetings in the Des Moines area. The main visitor events 17 years ago was 95% conventions. One area that has been focused on are sporting events and now the visitor business is 60% convention and 40% sports.
The hotel that is being built next to the events center will be opening Spring 2018. There are already 16 events booked. With this hotel and the others that are coming on line there will be 12,000+ hotel rooms in the metro area.
The Solheim Cup is the next premier event coming to the Des Moines Golf and Country Club. Tickets may be obtained at this URL: https://www.cuetoems.com/solheim_2017/Tickets.aspx.