DES MOINES, Iowa (March 22, 2023) – Catch Des Moines was recognized at the 2023 Iowa Tourism Awards for two different awards, including Outstanding Promotional Material for the 2023 Catch Des Moines Visitors Guide and Outstanding Niche Market Initiative for their “Believe the Hype” sports video. The awards were presented this afternoon at the annual Iowa Tourism Conference luncheon held at Prairie Meadows.   

“The team at Catch Des Moines did an outstanding and creative job tailored to appealing to our guests when producing our new visitors guide,” said Catch Des Moines President and CEO Greg Edwards. “It’s always an honor to be recognized by our peers in the travel industry. We all have the same goals…increase visitors!”

Outstanding Promotional Material honors a tourism attraction or community for excellence in promotional materials. With a circulation of 100,000 copies, the annual Catch Des Moines Visitors Guide serves as the ultimate resource for everything cool happening in Greater Des Moines. After years of outsourcing the production and much of the content to an outside magazine vendor, Catch Des Moines brought everything in house for this Visitors Guide. This guide is something where when you flip through it, you get a real taste of what Greater Des Moines was is all about and what makes it different. 

Outstanding Niche Market Initiative honors excellence in a tourism initiative to any niche audience. Catch Des Moines’ niche audience was the world of sports with their “Believe the Hype” video. With a banner year for sports in 2023, including the return of March Madness and the AAU Junior Olympic Games, along with a highly anticipated stop by the Savannah Bananas, coupled with new sports venues like the Lauridsen Skatepark and MidAmerican Energy Company RecPlex, they needed something to encapsulate the excitement on the horizon and the legitimacy of the region as an all-star host. The solution: an epic sports hype video. The :30 broadcast spot ran throughout March Madness on CBS, TNT, TBS, and Tru TV, and locally on FOX during the Super Bowl.

The Iowa Tourism Conference brings together travel and tourism industry representatives from across the state for education and networking among tourism professionals.

About Catch Des Moines

The Greater Des Moines Convention & Visitors Bureau and the Des Moines Area Sports Commission, collectively known as Catch Des Moines, is the official destination marketing organization promoting and representing Greater Des Moines to leisure travelers and meeting/sports planners. Our focus is to increase visitors to the metro and elevate the visitor experience to drive economic success and enhance the quality of life in the 14 local Greater Des Moines communities we represent. For more information, visit catchdesmoines.com.