Strategic Tourism Partnerships & Programs Manager

State-of-Iow; Des Moines (IA); On-site; USD 65,000 - 90,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Paid Time Off

Health Insurance

IPERS Retirement Plan

Flexible Spending Accounts

Life Insurance

Employee Assistance Programs

Employee Discount Programs

Job summary

The Tourism Partner Engagement Manager at Iowa Economic Development Authority leads statewide outreach to tourism businesses, local governments, and industry groups, coordinating grants, partnerships, and educational events to strengthen Iowa’s tourism ecosystem.

This role requires extensive travel across the state, excellent written and verbal communication, and a passion for collaborative problem-solving to connect partners with programs, resources, and funding opportunities.

Qualifications

• Experience with tourism, destination marketing, or economic development initiatives.
• Proven ability to build and maintain relationships with partners, vendors, and stakeholders.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including experience developing marketing or media-focused content.
• Dedication to our core values: Accountability in Action, Innovate Together, Mission Driven.

Responsibilities

• Building and strengthening tourism industry relationships by serving as a primary point of contact for tourism stakeholders, conducting partner meetings and presentations, responding to inquiries, and maintaining strong working relationships with tourism businesses, local governments, and industry organizations.
• Leading industry outreach and engagement by developing annual outreach plans, communicating Tourism Office programs and opportunities, and gathering stakeholder feedback to inform programs and priorities.
• Administering tourism grant and funding programs including outreach, application review, scoring, budgeting, reimbursements, compliance monitoring, and reporting.
• Coordinating educational programs and partner events by developing topics for webinars, workshops, roundtables, Insider Meetings, and other programming.
• Supporting the Iowa Tourism Conference through sponsor and exhibitor coordination, speaker support, attendee outreach, and partner engagement.
• Creating industry communications and resources by writing newsletters, announcements, program updates, content for websites, and presentation materials.
• Maintaining accessible and timely partner information by updating the e-newsletter and industry partners website with program information, events, and deadlines.

Skills

Relationship building

Communication skills

Marketing/content development

Event planning/education programs

Travel readiness

Education

Bachelor's degree in Public relations / Marketing / Business

Job description

The Tourism Partner Engagement Manager at Iowa Economic Development Authority leads statewide outreach to tourism businesses, local governments, and industry groups, coordinating grants, partnerships, and educational events to strengthen Iowa’s tourism ecosystem.

This role requires extensive travel across the state, excellent written and verbal communication, and a passion for collaborative problem-solving to connect partners with programs, resources, and funding opportunities.