Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Tourism Cvb Budget topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Council Bluffs CVB presents FY2026 proposed budget; reports tourism and hotel-tax gains
Summary
Council Bluffs Convention & Visitors Bureau director Mark Ekman presented the FY2026 proposed CVB budget, reported record hotel/motel tax receipts for FY2024 and described digital marketing and business-traveler campaigns.
Mark Ekman, executive director of the Council Bluffs Convention & Visitors Bureau (CVB), presented the bureau’s proposed fiscal year 2026 budget to the Council Bluffs City Council, summarized recent performance and outlined marketing plans.
Ekman told council members that tourism economics estimated visitors spent about $336 million in Pottawattamie County during calendar year 2023, and that the county collected a record $3.466 million in hotel/motel taxes in fiscal year 2024. He said digital marketing and social-media campaigns have been the bureau’s focus since the pandemic and reported increased website engagement: a visit, click and page-view increase of more than 20% in 2024 and an approximately 40% year‑over‑year jump in page views in the current fiscal year-to-date.
On the proposed budget, Ekman said the mayor had authorized consideration of a 3% increase if revenue projections allow. The proposed increase would mainly cover the cost of doing business; Ekman noted some line‑item decreases to offset higher costs in other areas. He described a common practice for the CVB: unspent funds at year-end are rolled into the following year’s budget for unanticipated expenses or opportunities; he cited a negative line-item in the packet that represented such a carryforward adjustment.
Ekman outlined program priorities including a winter marketing campaign and a new 11-month business-traveler campaign funded in part by a $10,000 state grant and local hotel partners. He described ongoing partnerships with Visit Omaha and local venues, said the city-owned Mount Crescent ski area had improved manmade snow coverage and promoted an expanded business-traveler push to grow Sunday–Thursday occupancy.
Council members asked questions about the recovery of business travel after the pandemic; Ekman said the CVB is targeting business travel and has launched a campaign stretching through early December to increase weekday occupancy. Ekman closed by thanking the council for prior support and sought council approval to proceed with the proposed FY2026 budget process.
