We all know how important creativity and thinking out of the box is for our industry. With that in mind, I couldn’t have hoped for a more rewarding brainstorming session than the one put together by our advertising agency, JWT, at the beginning of May. At this session, called Day One, more than 30 representatives from our agency partners and from the IBOT marketing staff attended and contributed ideas to keep Illinois tourism growing in the upcoming year. After reviewing the spring/summer advertising campaign, we broke out into discussion groups and explored creative ways to move forward.

The imaginative ideas were numerous. New visitor categories were suggested. What if our Web site included different pages for families, kids, couples and adults? How about trying to secure time on local television news shows for a “travel minute”? How can we infiltrate the “battleground” states? Also discussed were potential partnerships with rental car companies, pet stores and movie theaters. Team members voiced equally creative ideas focused on 3-Day Getaways, niche markets and our international program.

Speaking of the international program, I had the opportunity to attend one of our industry’s most important trade shows, the 38th Annual International Pow Wow, sponsored by the Travel Industry Association of America. From May 6 through 10, approximately 1,000 U.S.-based tour operators and 1,400 travel buyers from 70 countries gathered in Orlando, Fla., for the purpose of generating inbound travel to the United States. Approximately 47,000 sales appointments took place, with the potential to bring an additional $3.5 billion in future U.S. travel. Pow Wow also provided a chance to hear a number of prominent speakers, including U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez, discuss the current state of international tourism. Continued >

Industry Insider: Nina Winston

To help you get to know who’s who in Illinois tourism, ITN profiles an industry leader each month. This month, we introduce Nina Winston, executive director of Visit Illinois.

On April 3, Nina Winston became executive director of Visit Illinois, a federation of key public and private sector tourism organizations. The mission of Visit Illinois is to be a leading voice for Illinois tourism, develop educational programs for the tourism industry, communicate with state and local government leaders on the importance of tourism to the state’s economy, and provide informational resources for the industry on key topics and issues.

Winston’s appointment came on the heels of February’s successful 2006 Illinois Governor’s Conference on Tourism, co-sponsored by the Illinois Department of Economic Opportunity, Bureau of Tourism (DCEO/IBOT) and Visit Illinois, which hosted more than 600 attendees and raised more than $20,000 for tourism scholarships. She assumed the responsibilities of former Visit Illinois Executive Director Patrick Snyder.

“Illinois’ tourism industry is poised for incredible growth, and I am honored to be a leader in this field,” said Winston. “On behalf of Visit Illinois, I look forward to working with our public and private sector tourism partners across the state to build on our organization’s accomplishments as we become an even stronger resource for the industry.” Continued >