July 2006
| From the State Travel
Director
I highlighted our many accomplishments over the last year as well as our goals and plans for next year. JWT’s Erin Clark discussed how our advertising campaign focuses on our unique tourism offerings and reaches our target markets. We were proud to tout programs like the Offbeat Illinois poster campaign, Illinois Wine Month, the Illinois Great Rivers Ride and “Wild Chicago’s Illinois Road Trip.” IBOT’s Jan Kemmerling also shared the extraordinary economic impact of Illinois travel and tourism. 2005 turned out to be another record-breaking year, with travel expenditures reaching $26.2 billion—an increase of $1.7 billion—and economic impact numbers climbing 6.8 percent. Domestic travel expenditures were up by 6.5 percent and international travel expenditures were up by 11.5 percent. This is also the second year of growth in travel-generated jobs in Illinois, with 430 new jobs created in 2005. An additional $74.23 million in state and local taxes was generated by traveler spending in 2005 over 2004, as well. Fiscal year ‘06 hotel/motel tax receipts are currently up 11.4 percent, and we are on track to top fiscal year 2001’s record-high level of tax receipts. Illinois rolled out the welcome mat and hosted 90.78 million domestic visitors in 2005, a new record, led by a strong growth in business travel. While leisure travel actually declined in 2005, it was preceded by an 8.6 percent increase in 2004. Last year, both leisure and business travel were at record levels. Looking at our target market, leisure visitors staying in paid accommodations (about one-third of the total travel volume) increased by nearly 3 percent in 2005, demonstrating that we are having success converting those day trips into overnight trips. All areas of the state had gains in this important segment. As you can see, 2005 was a year of good news: • The economic impact of travel and tourism reached a record high of more than $26 billion. The news has been so good, in fact, that I was invited by Gov. Blagojevich to help announce the record rise of the economic impact of tourism and visitors to Illinois at a press conference during the Road Show. While it meant that I had to miss the last day of our tour, it was a fantastic opportunity to showcase our numbers to the widest audience possible. My sincere thanks to our generous host communities throughout Illinois and to all who helped put the Road Show together. Your hard work has paid off. Sincerely,
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I’m very pleased to report that the 2006 Illinois Road Show was a tremendous success. You’ll read about the places we visited and the people we met elsewhere in this newsletter, but for now I’d like to focus on the great news that we were able to share with media outlets throughout Illinois. Our theme was “The Power of One” and it focused on our collective strength and on the importance of speaking in one voice, of having one leader, and of the Bureau as one resource to rally our cause.
