Primghar, IA (NorthwestIowaNow.com) — Planning a vacation or weekend away? Have you considered O’Brien County in Northwest Iowa?

Apparently more are checking out the county now, because new data from Travel Iowa shows O’Brien County leads the state in tourism related spending, with an increase of 18.7% in visitor spending. In total, $19 million came into the county last year thanks to tourism. That includes transportation, food and beverage, lodging, and recreation.

Kiana Johnson is O’brien County Economic Development Director and facilitator of O’Brien County Tourism.  She is proud of the results, and says this should help not only with tourism, but population growth as well.

Hiring a marketing director and utilizing bloggers and social media influencers dramatically helped with the growth in tourism.

You can find out more at Tour O’Brien County Dot ORG