As you know, CenStates TTRA will welcome a new president, Dan Erkkila, in January. So this is my final newsletter column, and I'll miss writing it. The truth? This is one part of my presidential responsibilities that I won't miss at all!  For some reason, it has seemed a daunting and intimidating task. Over the many years of my career I've penned hundreds of media plans and marketing rationales, and I'm comfortable in most every writing situation. So why has writing this column been at times difficult? I think it's because I do know my audience - a quite diverse group comprised of people who do research as well as those who use it. The difficult part is trying to speak with relevancy to everyone.

 

 

So mark your calendars for 2008! Next year's conference will be held in Evansville, Indiana September 24-26  at the Casino Azar. Find out more about Evansville here.

 

 

 

Golf related travel contributed over $100 million to Iowa's economy during 2006, according to a recent study conducted by SRI International for the Iowa Golf Alliance. During the same time the total size of Iowa's direct golf economy was approximately $428.9 million. Given that approximately 5.8 million rounds of golf were played in Iowa in 2005, golf tourism trips (nearly 800,000) accounted for about 14 percent of the total rounds played. Read other surprising facts about the Iowa golf market, including how it compares with crop production in both direct revenues and revenues per acre by clicking here.