The following article appeared in the Iowa Life section of the Des Moines Sunday Register.

Tourists See It, Then Believe It
by Tom Perry, Register Staff Writer

A contractor doing repairs at Sharon Dixon's home recently asked about her occupation.

"I'm in sales," she told him.

"What do you sell?"

She replied, "Iowa."

The man gave her a look of disbelief, which Dixon took in stride. She has seen it before.

Dixon, who worked in food sales for years, explained to the contractor that she now owns and operates Inbound Iowa,
a 2 1/2-year-old tour-planning company that specializes in Iowa outings.

The contractor shrugged skeptically. He found it difficult to believe "there's really not that much to see here," he said.

The truth is, there's plenty to see in Iowa as evidenced by the scores of companies and individuals who are in the business of selling the state.

The Iowa Tourism Office doesn't maintain a list of companies that operate or plan tours in Iowa. But the National Tour Association, a travel industry advocacy group, lists more than 130 tour operators - some from as far away as Australia - who have visited or arranged to send tours to Iowa within the past two years.

Northwest Iowa Transportation, which operates Northland Tours from offices in Des Moines, Fort Doge and Waterloo, has years of experience providing transportation and creating package tours in Iowa and outside of the state, said Dean Haden-Luke, a specialty tour operator.

Many Iowa tours revolve around events or themes, she said.

Haden-Luke said skepticism about Iowa's attractiveness as a tourist destination could stem from the humble nature of many residents.

"We need to recognize and maybe brag a little more about what we have here," she said.

Star Destinations, Inc. of Carroll is another full-service, Iowa-based tour operator that polans and operates tours in Iowa and provides transportation through Windstar Lines, which has 28 coaches.

Cathy Greteman, president of Star Destinations, has been in the tourism industry since 1984, when she was a travel agent.

She said it is fairly common for people, often regardless of where they live, to under-apppreciate what's special nearby. "People somtimes look around and take for granted what's around them," she said.

Dixon said she was motivated two years ago at the age of 59 to launch her first business venture, Inbound Iowa, because she believed there was room in the state's tourism market for a company that specialized only in Iowa.

"Many of the tour operators do a good job bringing you to the major attractions," she said. "I love bringing people to all those behind-the-scenes places."

Dixon's customers have visited an alpaca farm outside of Perry, eaten a homemade lunch in the basement of a church in Madison County, and toured a working hardware store in Woodward that is more like a museum.

"As far as I know, mine is the only company in central Iowa focusing and concentrating just on Iowa," she said.

Dixon, 61, of Urbandale, founded Inbound Iowa after having worked three years for the Greater Des Moines Convention and Visitors Bureau.

One goal was to share what she calls Iowa's "wow moments," and she has been able to do that.

"I've had guests from in-state and all over the country and the world," Dixon said. "I've heard so many say, 'Wow, I had no idea.'"

Most of the tours accommodate groups of 25 or more, usually on new buses that she hires from companies such as Northwest, Windstar, Arrow Stage Lines and TransIowa. Some coaches come with lounges and big-screen televisions.

So far, she has arranged or assisted with 150 tours, she said. Some tours are specific requests from corporate customers. Others are from package tours that Dixon creates.

"Iowa is full of hidden treasures," Dixon, said. "Where else can you have lunch in a corn crib," near Slater, "and have a high tea dinner in a Victorian home," in the Sherman Hill neighborhood of Des Moines, "all in the same day?"

Val Courter is director of the bank club at Grinnell State bank. She said she has hired Inbound Iowa for the bank club's trips because "the tours Sharon puts together are not run of the mill tours... she thinks outside the box."

Dixon brings an abundance of enthusiasm and energy to tours, Courter said.

"You just know you're going to have a great time with her," she said. "It's like when you play follow the leader and the leader seems to be having the time of her life."

Here's an example: Dixon refers to one of her packages as a "Saints and Sinners Tour" of central Iowa, which combines a stop at a house of worship with a visit to the casino.

Most of Inbound Iowa's tours focus on the Des Moines area and central Iowa. But she has created packages from the Loess Hills and Council Bluffs. Group prices range from $25 to $55 per person, not including motor coach fees.

This year, Dixon wants to "create and sell more wine, culinary and special event tours," she said.

A native of Dallas Center, Dixon describes herself as a believer in the Iowa that she's selling to customers.

"I have had so many people, especially those not from here, say that they were surprised by how much there is to do here," she said.

Comment cards she has collected from out-of-state guests have included scores of compliments, such as "the city is so clean and the people are so nice."

Dixon admitted that about 2 years ago, even she thought of her native Iowa as "a little bit ho-hum."

But in the mid-1990's, even though the city of Des Moines had lost much of its retail base, the area began "to turn a corner," she said.

Today, Dixon said, she's proud to promote the Des Moines area as an interesting, vibrant, progressive city with a small-town feel.

One of her favorite types of tours to arrange is the grandparent-grandchild tour, she said.

These are growing in popularity, she said, and the Des Moines area has more than enough attractions to keep grandparents and grandchildren busy–the Science Center of Iowa, the Blank Park Zoo, Living History Farms and the State Capitol.

The task of selling Iowa may seem like a mission impossible to some, but Dixon's company comes along at a time when Iowa is appealing to more tourists, according to figures combined by the state.

Tourists visiting Iowa attractions spent $5.8 billion in 2006, 8.4 percent more than in 2005, the Iowa Tourism Office has reported.

This percent increase is higher than the national average of 7.3 percent, said Jessica O'Riley, communications manager for the office.

O'Riley called Dixon a wonderful ambassador for Iowa.

"Her imaginative tours show visitors sides of Iowa they couldn't see on their own," O'Riley said.

Inbound Iowa already has about 50 tours booked for 2008, Dixon said.

One of those will bring a bank club from Keosauqua to Des Moines. Deb Connor of Community First Bank said she has worked with Dixon before and her group is looking forward to their trip.

In addition to seeing a play at the Civic Center of Greater Des Moines, the group will make stops at a tea room and shop in Sherman Hill.

"I've been to Des Moines about a thousand times," Connor said. "But Sharon has a way of finding intriguing places, places you've never been to before."

While much of Dixon's job involves arranging tour details, she said she sees herself as a salesperson.

For much of her life she was in sales. She spent a lot of time on the road, she said, selling everything from canned hams to condoms.

"What I am doing now is different from selling stuff," Dixon said. "It is selling an intangible or an idea."

Despite skepticism lodged in some quarters, she has found satisfaction selling Iowa.

"It's been like a large red rose," Dixon said. "Each day the petals open a little more, it becomes more interesting, fragrant and exciting each day."