The halo effect - why all businesses have a stake in a thriving travel & hospitality industry

As director of the Illinois Office of Tourism, it is my job to lead the state's efforts to attract visitors from across the country and around the world to Illinois. For visitors and residents alike, Illinois offers a bit of everything - from historical attractions to modern skyscrapers, world-renowned culinary destinations to hometown diners, hiking trails on mountain bluffs to bike paths weaving through idyllic prairie land.

But travel is about so much more than just experiencing all of the wonderful things a place has to offer - travel and tourism play an important role in the broader prosperity of a state and its local communities.

The Office of Tourism's goal is to improve quality-of-life benefits for all Illinois residents, which is why destination marketing is about more than getting people to visit a place. In fact, the role of a destination marketing organization is to amplify the voices of many. So, let's take a look at why this industry is so vital to the success of Illinois as a state.

Travel and tourism is a very real economic driver; it's essential to a competitive local economy. The benefits of travel are part of a so-called "halo effect." Consider this: Tourism creates job opportunities at all levels of employment, from hourly workers to management. Whether it's for a business trip, a convention, or visiting friends and family, when visitors come here they spend money. When they buy goods and services, they pay taxes. This provides a direct economic impact to hotels, attractions, cultural institutions - as well as an indirect impact (or halo effect) to restaurants, taxi drivers, florists and others you might not suspect who rely on the tourism industry for business growth. This economic impact is what creates benefits and opportunities for Illinois residents, and we have the figures to prove it.

According to the U.S. Travel Association, tourism and hospitality is one of America's largest industries, generating $2.1 trillion in economic output from domestic and international travelers in 2015. Over 15 million jobs are supported by travel expenditures - 8.1 million directly in the travel industry and 6.9 million indirect jobs in other industries. Breaking down the numbers, this means that every one in nine jobs depend on travel and tourism.

In Illinois, an estimated 109 million domestic travelers visited the state in 2015, while state and local tax revenues were up $168.2 million from 2014's $2.7 billion. What's more, the travel industry is one of Illinois' fastest-growing economic sectors, and more than 8,000 new jobs were directly supported by travel and tourism last year.

But perhaps most importantly, all of this activity puts money back in taxpayers' pockets. The economic impact of travelers visiting our state saves the average Illinois household about $1,300 in taxes every year, and that is something we can all be excited about!

These business implications, along with the quality of life benefits I've mentioned, means that every Illinois resident and business has a stake in a strong and growing tourism industry. As champions of the Land of Lincoln, the Illinois Office of Tourism is using our full arsenal of marketing tools to continually come up with creative ways to inspire travel to the state we call home. And our efforts have paid off, part of an upward trend resulting from strong destination marketing over the years. In fact, we can proudly say that at least $7 are returned to the state for each dollar invested in destination marketing.

I'm extremely proud of our economic impact figures and the work we've done to encourage travel in Illinois in past years. When I look at the upcoming months of 2016, I'm excited about what we can achieve and the new bar we can set for Illinois.

A collaborative effort among the Illinois Office of Tourism, convention and visitors bureaus and businesses throughout the state will highlight the best of what Illinois has to offer to international travelers, prospective travelers from surrounding states, and most importantly, Illinoisans.

Fortunately for us, we know what we offer is pretty amazing, from sports, to food, to music, to culture, to history, to big cities, to charming towns, we make authentic experiences.

As we make our way through 2016, I want to challenge you to keep in mind the halo effect of tourism. This effect is very real and its results can be experienced by everyone reading this - in many different ways. By working together, we can collectively advance our goal of making the Land of Lincoln an extraordinary place to visit, live, work and play.

• Cory Jobe is the director of the Illinois Office of Tourism.