Statewide News

2005 Illinois Governor's Conference on Tourism

The 2005 Illinois Governor's Conference on Tourism, "Setting the Stage," is now accepting registration for the March 29-March 31 event! Attendees from across the state will experience top-tier, industry-renowned travel and tourism speakers, be able to network with colleagues and make valuable new contacts — all while celebrating Illinois’ thriving tourism industry.

Leading industry experts speaking at the conference include the TIA President and CEO Roger Dow; internationally recognized speaker and author of “How to Soar Like an Eagle in a World Full of Turkeys” Robert Stevenson; the team behind the Visit America Alliance and its efforts to encourage British tourists to visit the United States; and Judy Randall, a travel marketing expert who will reveal details of the future's travel landscape.

Early bird registration provides significant savings and ends on February 11. For more information and to register, visit www.illinoistourism.org or www.visitillinois.net, or call 888/658-0749.

If you are interested in becoming a conference sponsor and participating in the trade show, please contact Patrick Snyder of Visit Illinois at 312/658-0749 or psnyder@visitillinois.net.

To participate in the Governor’s Awards program, please contact Bonnie Heimbach at 815/547-3740 or nitdo@visitnorthernillinois.com.

If you’d like to donate an item for the silent auction, please contact Marge Heissinger at citdo@visitcentralillinois.com or 217/525-7980, or Roger Carmack at rcarmack@macomb.com or 309/837-7460.

Chicago hosts American Bus Association Marketplace 2005

IBOT and the Chicago Convention and Tourism Bureau are showcasing Chicagoland and Illinois as top group tour destinations during the American Bus Association (ABA) Marketplace 2005, now through February 9.

Conference organizers anticipate more than 3,000 delegates are visiting Chicago for ABA Marketplace, including more than 500 motorcoach and tour companies and more than 2,000 travel industry suppliers and media. The 2005 conference is attracting a record number of motorcoach and tour operators to Chicago, which makes this year’s Marketplace one of the most successful yet!

Along with participating in one-of-a-kind networking opportunities, attendees of ABA Marketplace 2005 are invited to explore all that Chicagoland and Illinois have to offer through a host of sightseeing tours and fam trips. Registrants can choose from 12 Chicago and Chicagoland sightseeing tours featuring the area’s most popular attractions. Also, six Illinois fam trips will take attendees and media to areas including Galena, Quad Cities, Rockford, Springfield, Southwestern Illinois and more.

For more information on the ABA Marketplace 2005, visit www.buses.org.

C-SPAN partners with Illinois to tout Lincoln and new museum

Illinois tourism is gearing up for high-tech and high-profile attention with last month’s launch of the “Lincoln and the Gettysburg Address: An Essay Contest for Middle and High School Students.”

The contest, sponsored by C-SPAN and the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, challenges students to craft their own thoughts about a “new birth of freedom” in an essay not to exceed 272 words, the length of President Lincoln’s November 19, 1863 Gettysburg Address.

The grand prize winner will receive $1,500 and have the opportunity to read his or her essay during the nationally televised Museum opening ceremony on April 19. Nine first prize winners will receive $750, and all 10 winners will be treated to a five-day “Looking for Lincoln Illinois Road Trip,” beginning April 14 in Springfield, that will take them to many important Lincoln sites throughout Central Illinois.

For information, to encourage students/teens to enter the contest, and/or for complete contest rules, visit www.c-span.org/classroom/lincolncontest.

Indulge in Illinois

With the New Year comes new resolutions, which are typically the tried and true promises to lose weight, exercise more and save money. This year, though, IBOT wants to help travelers resolve to do something even more achievable — celebrate the simple, fun and sometimes quirky indulgences in life known as guilty pleasures.

The Bureau’s recent media outreach covers “Mile After Magnificent Mile of Guilty Pleasures” throughout the year, highlighting events throughout Illinois such as: A Yanni concert at Chicago’s United Center (February 17); National Amateur Dodgeball Association's Outdoor National Championship and Dodgeball Days in Schaumburg (July 22 and 23); an evening at Mt. Morris’ White Pines Inn and Dinner Theater, where guests can relish “A Star is Born: The Music of Barbra Streisand” (March 30 and 31); a Donny Osmond performance at the Peoria Civic Center (February 14); Springfield’s Illinois State Fair and the deliciously guilty food (August 12-21); the Annual Superman Celebration in Metropolis (June 9-12); and a gourmet afternoon of cheese and wine at the Piasa Winery in Grafton.

Illinois’ guilty pleasures are already getting national and local interest with placements on www.cbsmarketwatch.com, www.crainschicago.com and www.dallasnews.com. To read the release, visit www.illinoistourism.org/press_usa.html.

Familiarization trips get international media ‘singing the blues’

Chicago’s reputation as the blues capital of the world continues to enthrall overseas travelers. To bring the popular American music to the UK and Germany, IBOT will host several fam trips in Chicago this spring and summer. First, Roger St. Pierre from BBC Radio Two will visit to explore Chicago’s blues roots and learn about the city’s top attractions. IBOT also will host four to five journalists from throughout Germany at the Chicago Blues Festival in June. The media will have the special opportunity to see and hear Illinois’ legendary artists perform for nearly 700,000 people.

Finally, Bernd Gürtler, from the Eastern German radio station MDR, traveled to Chicago in late January. His program on Chicago and its musical and cultural attractions is expected to air this spring.