From the State Travel Director
We gathered in Springfield for the Illinois Governor's Conference on Tourism with the purpose of "Making News" and, thanks to your participation, we did just that. Our 21st annual conference was as successful and productive as any we've had in recent memory, thanks to the wonderful presenters and organizers as well as you, our industry partners.
The conference started out on a high note with a brand-new pre-conference workshop on the impact of heritage tourism. For a new session, there was a tremendous amount of interest and we easily reached capacity. John Cosgrove and his panel shared many meaningful insights that will be helpful to those of you representing heritage areas.
I was so proud to see the top quality of our speaker and panelist presentations. From Marti Barletta's look at "PrimeTime Women" and baby boomers to Dr. Peter Yesawich's take on the habits and preferences of today's travelers, there was lots of great information to take home to our communities. Of course, we can't forget Sam Glenn and his humorous and motivational advice about how our attitudes affect our enthusiasm and work life.
Speaking of motivation, you may recall that I ended my portion of the State of the State speech with some "assignments" to bring back home and put into action. They're important, so I'd like to reiterate them here:
- Take advantage of all the resources that industry events like the Illinois Governor's Conference on Tourism have to offer and put key learnings into action. My list, for example, would include strengthening Illinois’ appeal to the boomer market, continuing to create partnerships and building on IBOT’s online technology.
- Surf the Web and examine how your colleagues and competitors are using the Internet to grow business. You don't have to be any sort of Web guru. I don't consider myself one, yet I've been participating in blogs and other social networking activities regularly. It doesn't have to be expensive or difficult, which leads to my final point:
- Join the conversation. Check out blogs. Visit tripadvisor.com and other similar sites such as travelblog.org, virtualtourist.com and bootsnall.com. Social media is the future and we have to jump on board.
I'm looking forward to hearing about your efforts. It’s not news if you keep it to yourself, so be prepared to share your successes and challenges. The way I see it, the Illinois Governor’s Conference on Tourism, as educational and fun as it was, was really another way to join the conversation. There are so many more opportunities if you're ready to take advantage of them.
Jan Kostner