Des Moines' economy will benefit from visitors for the Iowa Caucuses, but how much?

Des Moines’ influx of visitors arriving for the Iowa Caucuses is set to boost the local economy, but not as much as the 2020 cycle, according to one estimate.

Greg Edwards, president of the regional visitor’s bureau Catch Des Moines, estimated the Iowa Caucuses will generate $4.2 million in direct economic impact in Des Moines. The caucuses generated an estimated at $11.3 million in economic impact in 2020 during the week leading up to and through the day of the caucuses.

“The variance on the numbers are primarily because we've seen a drop in the number of media outlets (and) the number of people the media outlets are sending, this time around,” he said.

The Iowa Caucus Consortium, which Catch Des Moines is part of, hosts a media center at the Iowa Events Center for journalists to work out of for the Iowa Caucuses.

As of Jan. 9, more than 900 members of the media were credentialed for the media center with numbers growing each day, Edwards said in an email to the Des Moines Register. In 2020, 2,600 journalists came to Iowa for the caucus.

Des Moines hotels, restaurants, places to shop and entertainment and cultural venues will see an impact thanks to visitors entering the city for the Iowa Caucuses, Edwards said.

Though Des Moines and the state start welcoming visitors a year before the caucus as candidates and their staffers begin to travel across the state campaigning — with an increase in activity during the Iowa State Fair with events such as the Register’s Political Soapbox — it’s the 10 days ahead of the caucuses that draw such large numbers of people, Edwards said.

Hotels in Des Moines see higher occupancy rates

Steve Smyka, general manager of the Embassy Suites in Des Moines, said the hotel’s occupancy rate is in the 70% range. A typical January would see occupancy rates in the 40% range, assuming there is no other event creating a high demand for rooms.

He anticipated a higher occupancy rate but pointed to the winter storm earlier in the week as a factor in that — people canceled their reservations because they couldn’t get to Des Moines in time, though just as many adjusted their reservation dates to arrive later.

And that doesn’t account for the blizzard warning in effect through Jan. 12 for central Iowa.

“I think us and most of the downtown hotels during caucus depending on whether it's a group staying multiple nights or individuals coming in for single nights, we all position our rates, commensurate with much higher demand than normal so the rates are typically up 40, 50% over a time like this than they would normally be the second week of January,” Smyka said.

More: Still looking for hotel rooms on Iowa caucus night? Here's what to expect

Restaurants see a bump in business leading up to the caucus

Paul Rottenberg is the president of Orchestrate Hospitality, which operates several restaurants including Centro, Bubba, Django and Zombie Burger.

More: How Centro became a Des Moines restaurant staple from celebrities to caucus power tables

Centro, for example, has seen 15%-20% more guests in the 30 days leading up to the caucus, and that volume has remained consistent compared to previous caucus years, including 2020, he said. Visitors frequent the Italian restaurant in downtown Des Moines especially during the caucus — even earning a recent shout out from CNN anchor Jake Tapper in an Axios Des Moines article.

Rottenberg said he’ll have to “wait and see” whether this will remain true this year, adding that “a lot of that impact comes in the last week,” though weather could factor into that as well.

Business not as usual for Raygun, at least compared to 2020

Raygun was popular with presidential candidates and the media during the 2020 caucus, with visitors including Bernie Sanders, Andrew Yang and Kirsten Gillibrand at the Des Moines location, the Des Moines Register reported in 2019.

The company in the East Village of Des Moines is known for its T-shirts and merchandise emblazoned with witty phrases about the Midwest, pop culture and politics.

Mike Draper, owner, estimated he and his staff conducted more than 50 interviews with members of the media in 2020 — far more than what’s happened so far this year.

Draper said the economic impact of the Iowa Caucuses for Raygun compared to 2020 will be far less.

One reason for that could be due to how different the 2024 Iowa caucuses are from 2020, in which numerous Democratic presidential hopefuls vied for their party’s nomination versus this year, where just a few GOP presidential candidates duke it out as former President Donald Trump remains the frontrunner.

“Every time the caucus has happened up until this year, it would be a giant boost in sales and a giant boost in attention,” he said. “The caucus hasn’t built the company by itself, but in person and online, it was always great for sales and traffic in a normally slow time.”

Raygun’s location in Des Moines has fostered national connections that Draper said the company wouldn’t have made if it was located elsewhere in the state, partially resulting in business opportunities with media and political organizations.

“In 2020, the lead up to the caucuses was really good,” he said. “The weekend before was bonkers. And then we even made hay out of the caucus disaster.”

Draper was referring to when Raygun produced a shirt faster than the Iowa Democratic Party was able to announce results after widespread reporting problems caused a significant delay.

“That bump in business was maybe $100,000 probably in total and this year will be maybe $6,000,” he said.

Paris Barraza covers entertainment, lifestyle and arts at the Des Moines Register. Reach her at PBarraza@registermedia.com or follow her on Twitter @ParisBarraza.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: 2024 Iowa Caucuses boost Des Moines economy with restaurants, hotels