From visit Mason City –
MASON CITY – The numbers are in! Total tourism revenues in Mason City for 2012 topped $95.29 million, the highest ever.
According to the latest figures released by the Travel Industry Association of America prepared for Iowa Economic Department Authority, Iowa Tourism Office; tourism revenue for Mason City and Cerro Gordo County were up 3.54% bringing tourism to a $190.58 million industry in the county.
“We are so pleased with the healthy growth of our local tourism industry,” said Sue Armour, Executive Director of Visit Mason City. “We are fortunate in Mason City, along with our neighbors throughout Cerro Gordo County, to offer compelling tourism sites, amazing outdoor adventures, unique events, and North Iowa hospitality.”
The annual study, The Economic Impact of Travel on Iowa Counties, showed the combined local and state taxes generated by tourists in Cerro Gordo County to reach $11.75 million. “These tax dollars help support local services that we enjoy as residents such as: quality roads and schools, police and fire protection. Visitors help pay these bills instead of our citizens paying more from their own pockets,” she said. “Tourism activities, events, sites and revenue are important contributors to a high quality of life in the community plus tourism also employs over 1,500 people in the county.”
Armour noted advertising, promotion and public relations completed by Visit Mason City generates interest in the area. She shared that Visit Mason City fulfills numerous requests for information about visiting the area each year. Just in 2012, Visit Mason City fulfilled nearly 45,000 requests with requests received from every state in the nation and beyond.
BY THE NUMBERS: 2012 economic impact of tourism in Cerro Gordo County
* 1,500: Tourism-related jobs
* $25.45 million: Tourism employee payroll
* $190.58 million: Visitor spending
* $11.75 million: Generation in state and local taxes
Source: Travel Industry Association of America prepared for Iowa Economic Department Authority, Iowa Tourism Office.
Visit Mason City, formerly the Mason City Convention & Visitors Bureau (CVB), is a non-profit organization dedicated to marketing and promoting Mason City and the North Iowa area as a multi-day tourism destination to attract, expand and retain visitor spending in the area.
27 thoughts on “Visit Mason City says tourism numbers are up”
Tourism hell! Their welfare residents shipped in from Chicago-Detroit-Cleveland ! Spread the poverty around.
If anyone thinks anyone other than a few blue hairs that trickle in to see where some guy was born, you are kidding yourselves. There is almost NOTHING to come to MC for. I’d be willing to bet that the majority of that money is due to Clear Lake events…. and I am sure some spin doctor has done his work on those figures. The population of Mason city has slowly gone down for the last 20 years. people are moving away…. and they aren’t coming back. Keep spinning those numbers. I can see it now…. a busload full of tourists pay to start at the Rose Bowl and follow Federal past the old strip club on North Federal…..ahhhhh, what a great vacation trip….the vacant buildings with broken windows, the run down homes with grass covering cars, the drunks, drug dealers, women beaters, and sexual offenders. Come to Mason City.
harsh…. but mostly true :/
Those are hotel receipt tax dollars. Obviously you don’t do any in-depth looks. Go around and visit the hotels and you will soon learn quite a bit. That’s if you aren’t afraid to have a mind that is far more open than your posts.
Keep drinking that funny Kool-Aid and smoking them candy cigarettes. When you come up for air after having your head in the sand for decades, let me know.
Wow Mr negativity and cronies are at it again. You should look at the facts and the figures. Instead you continue to hold your very own attraction…the everyday bash. It’s a theme well suited to those who constantly criticize. If you can get off your asses go downtown and see the people who are walking around. They are coming from all over the world and they ain’t coming to shop at the Big Box stores. Granted we need more industry but tourism is helping a lot. The hotel motel tax generates around $140,000 to Mason City. Nothing to sneeze at.
If you want people to get off their asses and go see a downtown, have them go to LaCrosse, Wisconsin. It’s not that far away and absolutely puts to shame the downtown Mason City has. If Bookmeyer gets re-elected (heaven forbid), the very first thing he and Robin ought to do is visit LaCrosse with notebook and pen in hand, as there would be some real lessons to be learned. Night and day difference folks, check it out.
LaCrosse is a college town which means higher education levels and higher income. It’s also a larger town. Great inspiration but not a good example.
LaCrosse is close to double the population plus they have a couple of colleges, the Mississippi River, better state tax rates. The area around the Radisson s nice but when you get off on some of the side streets not so nice and I have never seen a town where they absolutely plaster those damn billboards everywhere. Those are so ugly.
Looking at downtown I see a few ugly buildings by the bar on north Federal. Joe Chodur is trying to fix those up.
what specifics do you want to call attention to that you think are bad?
Remember too in most instances these are local and family owned businesses.how many of these have you ever shopped. I have shopped or patronized these
MOORMANS
1910 grill
Mason city vacuum
ransoms
chop
first citizens
The quarry
State street deli
I wireless
Salon 220
Brick furniture
Coffee cat
Mason city brewing
Susie q
Encore
In home gallery
The hungry mind
These are local or family owned and they do care deeply about our community.
ya come visit mason city were the corrupt cops turn victims into criminals till the victim turned them into the fbi and they said they accidently mis charged the
victim and let fouer criminals go Scott free welcome to mason city or should i say dodge bring your own protection
Hey Common Sense Man, what position do you hold with the Visit Mason City committee? Only a committee member or family of a committee member could be so praising of the “Amazing” job they do.
@concerned…take your hate blinders off and look at the facts in the story. I have never been nor will ever be a member of the Visit organization, nor do I have any family members. Your negativity permeates your post so much its hard to read without feeling sorry for you.
@concerned…by the way I never used the word “amazing”…your editorial sense of judgment is so poor you must work at the Globe.
why do they have signs for 17 minute parking over there, who the hell ever heard of 17 minute parking? did eric’s palio bert shoneman dream that up?
Can somebody please explain to me why a family with children(age 25-54ish) would want to leave their community for the weened to “tour” Mason City? Other than the “retail pull” which the tourism committee has nothing to do with I’m just not seein’ it. I’m all ears!
@ concerned, no, I can’t think of a reason to bring your kids to be “weened” as you stated. You can do that at home.
so mason city went from having 5 visitors to 6 big deal.
Before we go about bashing the Visit Mason City organization and pointing out everything that is perceived wrong with Mason City….why not give credit where credit is due.
It appears that Visit Mason City is the only organization with ties to the city and county that is making money. Save the bashing for the EDC, the statues around town, the public golf course, and everything else that has city ties that loses money every single year, and not only loses money but keeps coming back to our city government asking for more money!
The Visit Mason City is a well run organization headed by Sue Armour and the Board president Jodi Ball. The board volunteers their time to make Mason City a viable tourism stop. Look at the money that comes in with the horse shows, the fireworks conventions, et all…I invite the last three posts to ask somebody like Doug Brown at Papas what these events mean to his business.
I think all your common sense was flushed down the toilet. What planet are you from?
@LVS I always like reading your posts, but please read the article again. The facts are tourism is a over 190 Million dollars industry in this county, it also provided almost 12 million in state and local taxes, plus over 1500 tourism related jobs.
This is a positive, one of the few positives we have going for us in Mason City and Clear Lake. Now people may want to bash this organization but the facts are the facts.
When a poster talks about why anybody would want to come to Mason City for a weekend, its not just to take in the sights, its for a event as I have mentioned that the Visit Mason City organization has gotten to come to our town to host their event.
Again this is a positive with cold hard facts, give these people some credit.
@Common Sense Man-and as I said, it is mostly Cerro Gordo County, specifically Clear Lake and the Fair Grounds that brings in by far the most tourism. As far as the downtown of Mason City except for the Park Inn (which will lose it’s draw very quickly) Mason City has very little to draw anyone. The Music Man Square helps somewhat and will end up being a much better draw than the old whore house that we put 20 million dollars of taxpayer money into. It is only common sense.
@common sense man-by the way, my apology for the snarky comment. Sometimes I get on a roll and get carried away. However, I am so sick and tired of Mason City wasting taxpayer dollars on special interest I just react sometimes.
@LVS – Based on your comments above, you must not support Max then either. Check out the movie on downtown Mason City at the library. Max is interviewed and thought that it was a waste to spend any money on the Music Man (I believe he said something about it being 20 years too late). He believed instead they should have spend the money on the Park Inn.
@Non-I believe that the Music Man Square is privately funded. And yes, I support Max for the most part, but not on everything he says. I am not a democrat that blindly follows everyone in its leadership like sheeple.
this includes Clear Lake which is a huge draw. The Park Inn is a flash in the pan. Once they have been there they won’t be back. Nothing else for them to do downtown at night except sit in the bars. They will be running out of people who are interested in the old whore house.
I see more and more houses for sale, and more and more moving vans. STOP kidding yourselves, Mason City keeps trying to revive the past, and cities that are actually growing are looking at the future! Music Man Square, FLW Hotel, Dillinger, Band Fest, etc. All are dying events. Lets stop spending are dollars on the past, and invest in attracting quality jobs for the young that are fleeing this town.
When you spend over 20,000,000.00 on one hotel renovation….something better be up.