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 "Illinois tourism is a necessity for the economic development of
Illinois and a solution to the state's budget woes," said Kimberly
Bless, chairwoman for the Illinois Council of Convention and Visitor
Bureaus.
Lawmakers received tourism updates from Chicago and Springfield in a
Tuesday afternoon committee hearing. Executive directors from
various cities also were in the Capitol to network with each other
and push for the Illinois Main Street Act, which would provide
financial assistance to downtown revitalization.
Chicago saw the lion's share of tourists in 2009, attracting more
than 45 percent of the tourists coming to the state. Springfield,
the historic home of Abraham Lincoln, saw a 7 percent jump in
tourism that same year, Bless said.
Lincoln is a small city between Springfield and Bloomington with
about 14,000 residents and is fortunately located along Route 66,
which drives in most of its tourists.
"We get tourists from all over the world. They'd fly in to Chicago
and drive down through Route 66," said Wanda Lee Rohlfs, executive
director for Main Street Lincoln.
"We are finding that a lot of people are looking to get out of the
big cities to find some leisure-time activities, to find someplace
to go somewhere that's not hectic like the big city," she said.
Illinois had about 82 million visitors, who spent more than $27
billion in 2009, according to the state's Office of Tourism.
"History buffs are ... drawn to cities like Springfield," said
Victoria Ringer, executive director for Downtown Springfield.
Other communities bring their own niche to the tourism industry.
Jacksonville, west of Springfield, offers bass fishing and historic
sites, said Judy Tighe, the Main Street executive director.
Despite the bad economy, Jacksonville's tourism increased 30 percent
from the previous year because of an advertising campaign that
reached beyond Morgan County, Tighe said.
The Quad Cities area offers an "affordable weekend getaway," said
Joe Taylor, president and chief executive officer of the Quad Cities
Convention and Visitors Bureau.
"What differentiates the Quad Cities is our stretch of the
Mississippi River, which is historic and one of the world's great
natural features," Taylor said. "And we market more to the larger
metropolitan areas that we have all the great amenities of the large
cities, but it's easier to get around, (there are) fewer hassles,
more affordable (and) more value."
Marion counts on its minor league baseball team, the Southern
Illinois Miners, to lure tourists, while the city is trying to
revitalize its downtown, said Meredith Ashe, vice president of
Marion Main Street.
"Just over the past year, things have gone downhill, and we're
hoping to get (it) back together," Ashe said.
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As most families start planning their summer vacation, the local
communities are not worried about the rising gas prices.
Diana Kenney, executive director for Downtown Crystal Lake, said
high gas prices are encouraging people to stay local.
Sara McGibany, executive director for Alton Marketplace, said
there's been a growing trend of locals playing tourists.
"A lot of people are doing what they're calling 'stay-cations'
instead of going on vacations," McGibany. "So we have a lot of
people that are from the local area in the 30-mile radius. Instead
of maybe traveling across the country for their vacation, they will
seek out new and different things to do in their local areas that
they have not experienced yet."
Before taking in a Chicago Cubs game, Floridians Ted Shears and his
wife, Carol Kleinberg, stopped by the Abraham Lincoln Presidential
Museum on Tuesday afternoon.
"My passion is presidential museums, so we decided to see the
Lincoln museum," Shears said. "We went to the Carter museum (in
Georgia), then to Lincoln, and then to the Bill Clinton museum (in
Arkansas). We'll end our monthlong trip in New Orleans."
Like Shears, Sue Larsen, a visitor from Bloomington, Minn., also is
a history buff.
"We decided to go on a road trip of presidential museums and came to
Springfield to see the Lincoln sites," she said.
Springfield wasn't the only stop on their Illinois itinerary.
"We were in Peoria earlier this week. We spent some time there on
the riverfront and had a great time," she said.
Kleinberg, the Florida grandmother, said she and her husband are
visiting their grandchildren in Illinois.
"Seeing the grandkids is ... second to seeing the Lincoln sites in
Springfield," Shears said.
[Illinois
Statehouse News; By MARY J. CRISTOBAL]
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