We begin the new fiscal year riding the momentum of the many accomplishments that made the last year so successful. After a few hard years following 9/11, Illinois tourism is once again seeing record numbers—an exciting and satisfying turn of events for us all.

In 2004 Illinois welcomed 90.61 million domestic visitors, a record high, due mostly to the dramatic increase in leisure travel, which rose 8.6 percent. This significant increase pushed Illinois’ market share up to 2.9 percent. Business travel remains lower than its previous highs in 2000 and 2001, though it still saw an increase and, better yet, Chicago recaptured the title of top U.S. city for business travel. Illinois now ranks 9th in the nation for leisure domestic travel. For overseas visitors, Illinois is tied as the 6th most popular state and Chicago is the 9th most popular city.

As far as traveler spending goes, Illinois is 5th in the U.S. Thanks to the continued popularity of so many of our great attractions, travelers spent more than $23 billion on transportation, lodging, food, entertainment, recreation and incidentals during 2004. These domestic traveler expenditures generated more than $1.6 billion in state and local taxes, a $73 million increase over the 2003 tax revenues. On average, visitors spent $116 per person per day. In 2004, the hotel tax revenue was $158,902,785, a 4% increase over 2003. Considering that our our budget is totally funded out of these hotel tax revenues, that's a key figure for us.

The average age of visitors to Illinois was 41. The majority of them were married and had an annual income of $68,000. In 2004 the top five states from which our visitors came were Illinois, Wisconsin, Missouri, Indiana and Michigan. The primary activities of leisure travelers included dining, shopping, sightseeing, entertainment, visiting a museum or art exhibit and nightlife.

All in all, 2004 will be remembered as a banner year for tourism. Of course, none of these successes would have been possible without the hard work and teamwork of our IBOT staff, the Illinois tourism industry and all of our partners. I’d like to thank all of you for your dedication and enthusiasm that I know will continue in FY ‘06 and beyond.

Speaking of FY ‘06, we not only plan to build on existing accomplishments, but we have many new projects planned, as well. For starters, we’re readying several new fulfillment pieces, such as a Fall-O-Ween guide that will be distributed in AAA Living magazine that will feature overviews of our Fall-O-Ween activities, Illinois Wine Month (September) and a calendar of events. It will also feature an article about Illinois scenic byways.

On the advertising front, we are teaming up with Chicago Public Television’s WTTW “Wild Chicago” to produce seven 30-minute episodes spotlighting Illinois destinations. Another project we’re very excited about is a series of advertisements featuring old-fashioned, vintage-like posters depicting some of our more popular attractions.

Finally, I’m pleased to report that the recent IBOT Road Show received a tremendous response and a great deal of media coverage. Of the many fascinating attractions we visited, two are celebrating important milestones: the Burpee Museum in Rockford, which debuted its "Jane" T-Rex exhibit on June 29, and the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, which in less than two months welcomed its 100,000th visitor.

It’s been a great year, and there’s no reason to doubt that the next year will be even better as long as we all keep up the great work!

Sincerely,