Mark Eckman, Executive Director
Duties
Mark leads the UNstoppable CBCVB team with responsibilities involving strategic planning, financial management, staff supervision, as well as local and regional partnership development. Not to mention, he educates area stakeholders on how much visitors contribute to local businesses and local government with more than $300 million in travel expenditures spent annually in Pottawattamie County.
Biography
Mark was born in Sioux Falls, South Dakota and eventually moved to the Okoboji, Iowa area. There he graduated with his high school diploma and was first introduced to working in the travel industry. Through that, he learned about the impact of tourism by working at businesses entirely dependent on travelers such as restaurants and local accommodations.
He received a bachelor’s degree in journalism/public relations with a minor in business from the University of Iowa. In his first post-college position, he led the Villages of Van Buren, Inc. which promoted rural Van Buren County as a travel destination. The organization launched Bike Van Buren and the Van Buren County Scenic Drive which continue to occur more than 30 years later. After three and a half years, he became the group travel manager for the Iowa Tourism Office. His position and responsibilities evolved over the next 16 years and involved ag tourism, international travel promotion, advertising creation/placement, partnership development, and event planning. Next, Mark returned to southeast Iowa to lead the Ottumwa Area Convention & Visitors Bureau for four and a half years and during that time landed the opportunity for Ottumwa to host the Iowa Tourism Conference for the first time. On December 1, 2014, he assumed the role of CBCVB executive director. During his tenure, the Council Bluffs CVB has been recognized for its website and social media efforts and was named outstanding community of the year by Iowa Tourism.
In his free time, Mark likes to travel to see friends and relatives, including his sister’s family in the Twin Cities and his brother’s son and daughter in North Carolina. As an Iowa grad, he is a big Hawkeye fan and gets to a home football game once a year. His favorite professional football team is the San Francisco 49ers, but he also roots for the Vikings, Chiefs, and Bears. Concerts and theater are other favorite past times along with reading biographies.
