Thank you to everyone who attended the 2009 Illinois Governor's Conference on Tourism last month. We received great feedback on our speaker lineup, and I hope each of you found useful tips for navigating "The Road Ahead." The next stop on our journey to advance tourism will be the 26th Annual Travel and Tourism Week, which takes place from May 9 - 17.

The U.S. Travel Association says, "National Travel and Tourism Week is a collective effort to promote the power of travel through customized events in communities nationwide. The goal is to enhance the country's economy, security and perception, and recognize the cultural and social benefits created by travel and tourism."

As we focus on our local opportunities and challenges, Tourism Week reminds us that we play a national role as well. Travel and tourism remains one of the largest industries in the United States, generating approximately $110 billion in tax revenue and saving each U.S. household almost $1,000 in taxes. Tourism is also one of our country's largest employers, generating 7.5 million jobs and $178 billion in direct travel payroll. (Statistics based on most recent numbers from the U.S. Travel Association)

The bottom line is that stimulating travel is one of the best ways to stimulate the economy. We as an industry, through creative and innovative ideas and programs, can build on our successes while adjusting our message to fit the current climate. We need to see tourism as part of the economic solution.

So we will continue to talk about one-tank getaways, rebate retreats and "staycations." We are also taking full advantage of social media outlets like Facebook, YouTube, Flickr and Twitter. Recently, goseetell.com rated our Twitter account 7th out of 236 travel destinations - every day we gain approximately 20 new followers. In these instances, without any traditional media effort at all, our consumers are finding us.

They will find you too, if you are out there with bold attention-getting initiatives. They needn't be expensive, but every effort can be valuable.  Look at our Flickr site with more than 2,400 photos submitted by travelers and residents alike.  Our YouTube channel features local gems such as Hardy's Reindeer Ranch, Morton's Punkin Chuckin event and the Metropolis Superman Festival. These are only a few of the affordable ways we can spread the word.

Hopefully, as you were networking at the Governor's Conference, you had a chance to compare notes with your colleagues and find out what's happening in other areas of the state. We at IBOT rely on your grassroots efforts to promote Illinois travel. Together, we can ensure that every week is Tourism Week.

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To help consumers plan their next trip in Illinois, IBOT launched a new marketing campaign and updated our Web site to help match travelers with their ideal 3-Day Getaway. The campaign focuses on engaging consumers on a personal level to show them that Illinois is a perfect choice for their next trip. The campaign includes new TV ads, which can be viewed on Enjoy Illinois' YouTube channel, updated Web site tools that encourage consumer interaction and helpful resources for travelers.

The interactive features on EnjoyIllinois.com include:

• The Getaway Match Profile Quiz asks a short series of questions to guide travelers to the getaway perfectly matched to their personal interests. It includes three new "My Favorite Things" getaways for food enthusiasts, movie buffs and golfers.  
  
  
• A custom "My Getaway" tool allows visitors to build their own getaway and save, print and share it with friends and family.
  
  
• A Travel Tools page includes the 2009 Illinois Travel Guide; a searchable events listing that can be filtered by date range, region, city or category; the latest hotel packages and deals from around the state; and contact information for the state's travel counselors and local convention and visitors bureaus.
  

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Get Noticed

With countless organizations using social media platforms, you may be wondering how your marketing efforts can stand out from the crowd. According to this post from the Travel 2.0 Blog, the answer is to focus on these 3C's: content, creativity and customer service.

Quality content can set your destination apart, especially if you position yourself as a resource and provide helpful information and suggestions to visitors. You can start brainstorming today and use your internal team to come up with new, creative ideas. The post also includes suggestions to strengthen your customer service, including a list of best practices to enhance your visitor's interaction with your destination's Web site, e-mails and online outreach. Plus, it reminds us that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, so don't hesitate to check out the highlighted examples and see what other destinations are doing to stand out.

Travel Packages
A recent article in Travel + Leisure states that "In these tumultuous times, we return to the essential pleasures of travel, rediscovering classic destinations and old-fashioned manners, seeking out comfort and serenity and quiet. What's old is new again this year."

This means two things: 1) People are going to take more road trips and stick closer to home, and 2) Customer service is even more important than ever. Offering vacation packages is a great way to address both trends. At our spring launch event, we saw people's enthusiasm for the vacation packages that were given away. While people are looking for ways to save money, they aren't necessarily cutting out travel; instead, travelers are looking for less expensive travel options.

Offering discounted vacation packages to travelers this summer is increasingly important to encourage people to visit your region. Whether it's discounted hotel prices, free admission to a local attraction, a gift card to a local restaurant or pulling all of these together, saving your guests money will go a long way to entice people to take a vacation in your region.

Send any travel discounts or packages to enjoyillinois@gmail.com and we'll help spread the word on Twitter and Facebook.

U.S. Travel Association News
The U.S. Travel Association is organizing two exciting initiatives. If you would like to participate, please follow the instructions in the links below.

• Faces of Travel Contest
• U.S. Travel Rally Day

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