TRAVELER THE
ISSUE
2021 / Q4
Keith Rahe Launching into 2022
It’s officially 2022, and we’ve been excited to kick off the new year while looking back at the successes of this past one. Many exciting things are coming up in 2022, including the increase of river traffic with local, regional, and excursion boats that are returning to #WhereIowaStarted. New for 2022? Viking Cruise Lines will make its inaugural debut on the Upper Mississippi River, stopping in Dubuque a scheduled ten times. In total, there will be an estimated 125 stops between five riverboat companies in 2022.
KEITH RAHE President & CEO krahe@traveldubuque.com SARA HANTEN Vice President of Operations shanten@traveldubuque.com JULIE KRONLAGE Vice President of Sales jkronlage@traveldubuque.com TYLER DAUGHERTY Vice President of Community Engagement tdaugherty@traveldubuque.com
We are also looking forward to the return of signature events for the community like the Dubuque on Ice Brewfest, Julien Dubuque International Film Festival, Tourism Week, Food Truck Fridays, and many more. Also slated to return is the second annual ‘MLB at Field of Dreams Presented by GEICO’ on August 11, 2022. This game will see the Chicago Cubs take on the Cincinnati Reds for what is sure to be another historic night of baseball.
TAYLOR KELLOGG Vice President of Marketing tkellogg@traveldubuque.com BECKY CARKEEK Sales Manager bcarkeek@traveldubuque.com MICHELLE RAHE Director of Guest Services welcomectr@traveldubuque.com KAREN LYNESS Welcome Center
We are hopeful that 2022 will continue to bring about the resurgence in meetings & conventions. While we still aren’t out of recovery from COVID, there are many larger groups in town this next year, including the Iowa Association of Business & Industry, Iowa Illinois Safety Council, Growing Sustainable Communities Conference, and more.
MICHELLE MOODY Welcome Center MARV MAIERS Brochure Distribution VICKI MAIERS Brochure Distribution
We look forward to making 2022 one for the books and can’t wait to have you along for the ride. Sincerely,
TRAVELER THE
ISSUE
PRESIDENT & CEO TRAVEL DUBUQUE
2021 / Q4
ON THE COVER Sundown Mountain Resort CONTACT US 280 Main Street Dubuque, IA 52001 800.798.8844 traveldubuque.com
Riverboat Traffic BY THE NUMBERS FOR 2021
It was an exciting year for riverboat traffic in Dubuque, both locally owned boats, riverboats that float in from the Quad Cities, and excursion riverboats that stop in the community for exploration. The Riverboat Twilight brings passengers to Dubuque on day one from LeClaire, IA and returns to LeClaire, IA on day two. This vessel cruised into Dubuque on a Tuesday-Wednesday and Thursday-Friday format in June – August 2022 and a Sunday-Monday, Tuesday-Wednesday, Thursday-Friday format in September & October 2021. All passengers on this vessel will stay at a hotel in Dubuque, generating hotel/motel tax for the community. The Celebration Belle brings guests to Dubuque from Moline, IL on day one. Cruises in Dubuque throughout the area on several tour options or to locations like Prairie Du Chien on day two, and cruises back to Moline, IL on day three. This happens monthly June – October. Many passengers aboard this ship will overnight in Dubuque hotels, generating hotel/motel tax for the community.
@ K I N DA P O T H E C A RY
2021 Riverboat Passenger Attendance
American Queen Voyages operates three riverboats that typically stop in Dubuque throughout the year. This year the only ship that did not was the American Queen. We did welcome the American Countess and American Duchess. Passengers aboard these ships sleep on the ships. They explore the community on preformed itineraries that Travel Dubuque has crafted for them on what they call Hop On Hop Off Tours. Average time in community is 5 hours. 2021 saw 8 stops from this company. American Cruise Lines operates two riverboats that stopped in Dubuque in 2021. They were the American Melody and the America. Passengers aboard these ships, sleep on the ships. They explore the community each stop at preformed itineraries that Travel Dubuque has crafted for them. Average time in community is 6 hours. 2021 saw 22 stops from this company.
FOLLOW US Keep up to date with Travel Dubuque by following along on Facebook & Instagram and tag us @ traveldubuque or use #WhereIowaStarted @ N AT F I N L E Y P H O T O G R A P H Y
T R AV E L E R - T H E
I SS U E
2022 Travel Guide Travel Dubuque’s annual Travel Guide is the travel resource for visitors coming to the Dubuque area. 50,000 copies have been printed and will be distributed throughout Iowa, the Midwest, Welcome Centers, lodging facilities, attractions, area universities, colleges and more over the coming year. This year’s Travel Guide features user-generated photos, colorful graphics, and storytelling to captivate potential visitors and provide them with the information they need to plan their next trip to #WhereIowaStarted.
Adding Your Events Want to add an event to TravelDubuque.com? Our calendar now syncs with the Telegraph Herald’s online calendar. Upload your event to telegraphherald.com and your events will sync to the Travel Dubuque site. Have a lot of events to add? Let us know and we can examine your calendar to see if events can be automatically added without a manual entry!
S M O K E S TAC K
A Look at Sales AMERICAN BUS ASSOCIATION (ABA) JANUARY 7-10, 2022 | GRAPEVINE, TX
Julie and Becky attended ABA on behalf of Travel Dubuque and also supported the Iowa Travel Industry Partners (iTIP) booth. The tradeshow was appointment based and Travel Dubuque met with 20+ group tour planners from across the country. ITIP also had a booth for the entire conference where additional networking opportunities for Dubuque County took place. Leads from the show will be sent to the industry.
HERITAGE CLUB PEER GROUP CONFERENCE FEBRUARY 20-25, 2022| QUAD CITIES, IA
Dubuque will host a pre-fam tour prior to this conference, which focuses on the bank club market. On February 20, 2022, bank club planners will explore Dubuque’s restaurants, attractions, and stay in the community.
GROUP TOUR MARKETING Dubuque will be featured in upcoming publications and in social and digital campaigns with Groups Today. This publication markets to over 10,000 travel planners throughout the United States and Canada and will assist in bringing more groups to our community to explore attractions, restaurants, etc.
EXPERIENCE WHERE STARTED
Iowa
.COM
GRANT WOOD LOOP
DUBUQUE ARBORETUM & BOTANICAL GARDENS
T R AV E L E R - T H E
I SS U E
A Look at Events
DOCKDOGS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
OCTOBER 13-17, 2021
800+ room nights were generated from DockDogs in 2021! Over 1,500 spectators took in the high-flying action. 2021 Competition Numbers - 275 Unique Competitors & 693 Total Entries - Competitors from 41 States - 10,459 live Facebook viewers - 1.2M Facebook related impressions
SISTER CITY PHOTOGRAPHY EXHIBIT OCTOBER 14-16, 2021
The exhibit saw 230+ visitors over the course of the three days. Thursday, October 14 revealed locally built display cases featuring 30 images from our Sister Cities, informational brochures and signage, international music, hors d’oeuvres representing signature dishes from our three Sister Cities, and cash bar. Mayor Buol was in attendance and shared his stories from travels to our sister cities and declared Thursday, October 14, “Sister Cities Day”. The exhibit also included a series of children activities, such as, decorating paper lanterns, informational coloring sheet and composing letters to exchange with students in our Sister Cities.
SISTER CITIES EXHIBIT
WHAT’S HAPPENING IN Q1:
Theisen’s Snocross National | January 14-15, 2022 Dubuque On Ice Brewfest | February 19, 2022 Future Stars Roundball Ruckus | March 26-27, 2022
MINES OF SPAIN 100 OCTOBER 15-16, 2021
100 Mile / 100 Kilometer trail race held at the Mines of Spain. This event sells out every single year. 160+ runners competed over the weekend with the youngest being 22 and the oldest being 67. Of the 160 runners, 69% were male and 31% were female. Runners traveled from 25 States, and the event had well over 100 volunteers, some working 33 straight hours until runners were done.
FUTURE STARS AAU BASKETBALL TOURNAMENTS NOVEMBER 13-14, 2021 & DECEMBER 18-19, 2021
The Dubuque fall Classic (11/13-14/21) and Holiday HoopFest (12/1819/21) took place in Dubuque and welcomed north of 60 teams each weekend. These tournaments are a part of the FutureStars tournament series, which also hosts the Mississippi River Classic annually in June. That event draws north of 150 teams each year if gym space allows.
MAY 6, JUN 10, JUL 8, AUG 19, AND SEP 9 IN 2022
Walk, bike, or drive to Washington Park where food trucks will line the streets, ready to celebrate the end of the week with you. Local live music is provided by 365ink. For a lineup of trucks, visit traveldubuque. com. (Truck schedule subject to change.)
Q4 by the Numbers MARKETING 40,982 online sessions to traveldubuque.com 11,938 in our audience across social 487,098 impressions across social EVENTS 11,570 event-related guests $1.5 million in estimated economic impact MEETINGS & GROUPS 0 Conventions Booked 4 Convention In Process 3 Conventions Lost J U L I E N D U B U Q U E I N T E R N AT I O N A L F I L M F E S T I VA L
PARTNER SPOTLIGHT:
Julien Dubuque International Film Festival APRIL 20-24, 2022
Since 2012 The Julien Dubuque International Film Festival has been dedicated to enriching the community and bridging cultures through the education and promotion of the arts through independent film. Today, it is internationally recognized as an indie film festival with a keen eye for tomorrow’s talent. The 2022 festival marks the 11th annual event. Recognized as 1 of 50 Film Festivals Worth the Entry Fee in 2020 by MovieMaker Magazine and a Top 100 Best Reviewed Festival by Film Freeway, this signature event brings in people from across the globe each year.
Save the Date Tourism Week 2022 will be held May 2 - 6. Stay tuned for an event schedule and more information.
WELCOME CENTER 1,438 Visitors in the Welcome Center 156 Travel Guides Mailed Most of our visitors at the Welcome Center came in October with almost 900 visitors from 35 states, Italy, and England.
pathological.runner Day 1842...more
thomchesney It’s officially a #craftbeer #shoplocal #snowday in Dubuque, eh, jubeck_brewing?...more
trtdg Christmas tree lighting 2021. #whereiowastarted...more
jakemel_ He may have beat me at Guitar Hero, but I’m still a winner 💖...more
mwfreeriders Only a few months away!! New season = new goals...more 🤩
capturedbycorbin Peace out 2021! Hello 2022!... more
jennafrombaseballism Snowy season in Dyersville ...more
libby_puls Scuba Santa...more
riverridgebrewing We were a little too busy enjoying the igloos yesterday...more
breiteradventures warriors unite! A snowy hike to say goodbye to 2021....more
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