Meet Chicago Northwest takes home two wins, including Best of Show, at The Illinois Governor’s Conference on Travel & Tourism
Meet Chicago Northwest (MCNW) is honored to announce that it’s a proud winner of two awards at the Illinois Governor’s Conference on Travel & Tourism, the state’s premier educational and networking conference for tourism industry professionals. MCNW took home the Outstanding Niche Targeting award for its 2023 marketing campaign, Chicago Northwest is Your Home for Golf and the top honor of the night, the award for Best of Show which is given for the highest score across all categories.
Tapping into the increased popularity of golf, Meet Chicago Northwest submitted a multimedia golf campaign, which showcased its many year-round golf attractions and award-winning golf courses. Targeting golfers across Southern Wisconsin and the Chicago area, the campaign brought in over 4,000 documented golfers while contributing to an increase in $1.8 million in hotel room revenue.
“It is an honor to be recognized by our tourism peers from across the great state of Illinois. These wins reinforce the work that we’ve been doing at Meet Chicago Northwest for the last 40-plus years,” says Heather Larson, president and CEO of Meet Chicago Northwest. “We are thrilled to receive this recognition and these two prestigious awards from the Illinois Office of Tourism.”
The three-day conference was held March 19-21, at the Peoria Civic Center and included the 2024 Illinois Excellence in Tourism Awards ceremony, honoring Illinois tourism leaders’ contributions to the industry. The annual conference, brought over 360 tourism and hospitality leaders, travel experts and visionaries together to highlight the latest industry trends and insights that contribute to Illinois tourism.
The past few years have been big for the growth of the hospitality industry, both for Illinois as a whole and for Meet Chicago Northwest. In 2022, the total economic impact of tourism in Illinois was $78 billion. In 2023, Meet Chicago Northwest marked its 40th anniversary, attracting over 3 million overnight visitors to the Northwest suburbs. The region saw a 6.8% rise in gross sleeping room revenue and the highest increase in average daily room rate among all Chicago areas.
To learn more, visit chicagonorthwest.com.
About Meet Chicago Northwest
Meet Chicago Northwest (MCNW) is a nonprofit, 501(c) 6, destination marketing organization whose mission is to promote its service area of eight communities (Arlington Heights, Elk Grove Village, Itasca, Rolling Meadows, Roselle, Schaumburg, Streamwood, Wood Dale) for meetings, convention, sporting events, group tours, and leisure visits. MCNW concentrates on direct sales and marketing programs designed to promote the area in order to increase overnight hotel stays thereby enhancing the local economy through visitor spending. Meet Chicago Northwest is one of 36 Illinois certified convention bureaus and the first in the state to have achieved the prestigious DMAP Accreditation through Destinations International. For more information, please visit chicagonorthwest.com.