On Sept. 27 IBOT hosted the International Program Fall Update Meeting at the Hotel Allegro in Chicago. Previously held under the banner of “supplier meetings,” the conference addressed various topics relating to our international tourism partnership. In addition to Jan Kemmerling and myself, speakers included Cathy Domanico, director of tourism for the Chicago Convention and Tourism Bureau; Dorothy Coyle, director of the Chicago Office of Tourism; and Toby McCarrick, executive director of the Great Lakes of North America.

On the heels of very positive domestic numbers, the results of our international efforts are just as encouraging. In 2004 travelers spent 10.4 percent more in Illinois than the previous year. Over the same period, more than 20,000 international travel jobs were created, an increase of 4.5 percent. This led to state and local tax revenues topping $107 million. Illinois was the sixth-most-popular state for overseas visitors in 2004, while Chicago remained the ninth-most-popular U.S. city.

The top international markets for Illinois are Canada, the UK, Mexico, Japan and Germany. Our data focused specifically on two target markets, the UK and Germany.

Travel volume from the UK increased 28 percent to 211,000 visitors. Travelers primarily cited leisure recreation as their trip purpose. And since most visitors from the UK were in Illinois on business during the previous two years, this shift is significant. Those leisure travelers chose dining and shopping as their top activities, and overall nights in destinations dropped from 6.1 to 5.3. The travelers spent an average of $89 a day in Illinois, most were around the age of 40, and a third of them (34%) had incomes of $100,000 or more.

Travel volume from Germany increased by 10 percent, with German leisure travelers also indicating a preference for dining and shopping. Overall nights in destinations increased from 5.1 to 5.3. Visitors from Germany also tended to be close to 40 years old, and they spent an average of $70 per day. Almost 26 percent of these travelers had incomes over $100,000.

We also discussed our advertising strategy at the fall update meeting, which included creative for the gochicago.com Web site as well as newsletters and Web advertising for both the UK and Germany. Gochicago.com user traffic has been growing dramatically with 125 percent more users in 2005 than 2004. Much of this has been due to our online partnerships with Expedia and Lastminute. We also reviewed both paid advertisements and PR-placed media clips featuring attractions such as the Chicago Blues Festival and the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum opening.

The meeting concluded with our featured presenter, Cathleen Johnson, general manager and executive vice president of global tourism practices for Edelman, who discussed the U.S. Department of Commerce’s first-ever tourism promotional campaign that launched last December. One key element of the department’s outreach, which uses the slogan “You’ve seen the film, now visit the set,” associates different U.S. locations with movies familiar to international audiences. Illinois is represented by the musical film “Chicago.”

I’d like to thank our international tourism staff, especially Elisa Marcus and Tiffany McQuillen, and our industry partners for coordinating this very informative meeting. Congratulations on all your success!

Sincerely,