SIOUX CITY | The Sioux City Convention Center will host the Iowa Tourism Conference in October 2017, city officials announced Tuesday.
The three-day conference, which was last held in Sioux City in 2008, will attract 300 tourism industry professionals.
"This is another good opportunity to showcase Sioux City to the rest of the state," city Events and Facilities Department Executive Director Erika Newton said in a statement.
Because the city has changed significantly in recent years, Newton said the tourism visitors will have a "completely new experience" when they arrive in 2017.
"We are excited to bring the conference back to Sioux City," Iowa Tourism Partnership Manager Colleen Murphy said in a statement. "This community has added many new attractions since the last time they hosted our conference."
Registration for the conference will open in spring of 2017.
Landing the conference is a major coup for the convention center, which in recent years has struggled to attract large conventions to Sioux City.
To help draw more business, city officials are mulling construction of a 150-room upscale hotel that would connect to the Convention Center, 801 Fourth St. A private developer has not yet been identified for the $24 million project, which would be part of the city's Iowa Reinvestment District application.
Reported by: SiouxCityJournal.com