One indication that tourism is doing well in Pella in 2023 has been the number of people filling local hotels. Director of Visit Pella Ann Frost says it has been another strong year in revenues generated by visitors making overnight stays.

The organization receives a portion of hotel-motel tax funds to further promote the community. Frost says this comes at a time when the community has been filled with out-of-towners enjoying a long tulip bloom this past spring and the various ongoing activities during the summer so far.

“With Tulip Time this year, we had an outstanding year,” she says. “The couple of weeks leading up to Tulip Time, there were plenty of visitors in town coming to look at the flowers that were blooming early, and then we had this wonderful weather come in where it got kind of cold and preserved those tulips.”

“We were happy with the amount of visitors popping into the visitors center requesting guides and maps and asking about attractions, along with checking in on local downtown businesses, retailers, and restaurants on needing guides and maps and what they were seeing and hearing from our visitors.”

Hear more about tourism in Pella in an upcoming Let’s Talk Pella.