HC Tourism to promote more outdoor activities, lend a hand to Salem during RAGBRAI

Henry County Tourism is planning creative ways to market the tourist attractions already established in Henry County and extending a helping hand to Salem as they plan for RAGBRAI.

Kristi Ray, executive vice president of the Mt. Pleasant Area Chamber Alliance, said that she keeps hearing from a younger generation of professionals that they would like to see more outdoor activities.

'I put a little bug in the (Conservation Department's) ear,” Ray said during a Board of Supervisors meeting on Thursday, June 6, where she presented Henry County Tourism's 2019 annual budget. 'We have an unsung hero here at Oakland Mills. I want to focus more on that and do more things with them.”

Ray said she would like tourism's activities to focus on trails, fishing and possibly even coordinate bands and concerts down by the river.

Ray recently took professionals in the Henry County Leadership's class of 2018-2019 to the Oakland Mills Nature Center, and many of the students had never visited before.

'We want to do anything we can to use what a true asset Oakland Mills is,” Ray said.

While Ray wishes Mt. Pleasant could have been named as the meeting town for RAGBRAI on Friday, July 26, she said it's a really good thing for the county that RAGBRAI will be passing through Salem.

Ray said that every year she submits an application to RAGBRAI to be a town on their route because she never wants them to think Mt. Pleasant is uninterested. This year, however, she started getting concerns from the city about downtown construction. Chad Sloat, store manager of Walmart, also voiced his concern about their store being under construction this summer.

'Of course I'm disappointed. How can you see Fairfield and Burlington and Keokuk getting RAGBRAI and not wish we were getting it? But it is what it is,” Ray said.

Ray said she has reached out to Salem to offer some assistance as they prepare for RAGBRAI.

'That is a perfect example of what we should be using Henry County Tourism money on,” Ray said, adding that Mt. Pleasant will still get a 'bump” in tourists frequenting their hotels and restaurants during RAGBRAI.

Henry County Tourism has also given some money back to community groups through grants that do a good job of promoting tourism. Ray said that when she joined the Chamber in 2016, there was $18,000 in the Henry County Tourism fund, and she felt like the money should go back to the county.

One group that stands out is the Red Flag Horseless Carriage Tour out of New London, Ray said. Every fall, they organize antique car owners to bring their cars and drive through the county.

'They do such a good job of bringing people in,” Ray said.

The grant program will be eliminated for one year because the surplus funds have been spent, Ray said. The grant program will be reinstated when money allows, she said.

Ray said they are also going to be more conscientious in spending money to pay Chamber staff to drive back and forth to the Iowa State Fair in Des Moines. In 2018, $2,161 was spent on the Chamber's state fair booth. Only $1,800 is budgeted for Henry County's booth at the Iowa State Fair this year.

'We want to be more diligent on smart travel,” Ray said. 'Our staff will just go one day each.”

Other activities Tourism contributes to is the shuttle that drives people between downtown Mt. Pleasant and Midwest Old Threshers during the Midwest Old Threshers Reunion, the Festival of Lights and the Holiday Parade.

Henry County Tourism is completely funded by Henry County. Supervisors have approved giving Tourism $10,000 for at least the past four years.