The 2019 Pella Christmas Tour of Homes had significant impact on the Pella community this holiday season. Jill Vandevoort with the Pella Convention and Visitors Bureau says 2691 people made stops at the four local homes. Vandevoort says 79 percent of this year’s tour visitors were from outside of Marion County.

“In Iowa, each travel party spends on average, $361/day. That becomes more of a total of $194/day for persons that do not overnight,” Vandevoort says. “Many [on the tour] actually do overnight as we have attendees from Illinois, Missouri, Nebraska and this year we even sent tickets to Pennsylvania.”

Vandevoort thanks the volunteers and sponsors who make the annual event possible. Next year’s dates will be December 3-5, 2020. Anyone interested in hosting their home on the 2020 tour should contact CVB Director Jill Vandevoort at 204-0885.