How can the suburbs get tourists racing back for a visit? New tech, big attractions
The Schaumburg-based convention and visitors bureau Meet Chicago Northwest is not only marking its 40th anniversary, but it's joining similar agencies across the suburbs in charting a recovery from the largest challenge in their history: the COVID-19 pandemic.
All are grateful for the growth opportunities provided by the new state budget's $22.5 million in grant funding for Illinois tourism - a $7.5 million increase from last year - which they say reflects recognition of its economic importance.
Meet Chicago Northwest President Heather Larson said such state funding must be used to promote her group of eight municipalities to potential visitors at least 50 miles away, while the organizations' own money can be spent locally.
And so while people in the suburbs may hear ads featuring actor John Goodman touting the attractions of St. Louis, the Northwest suburbs are being promoted there - as well as in Minneapolis, Washington, D.C., and California.
Suburban bureaus are piggybacking their messages on the "Middle of Everything" campaign of the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, Larson said.
Initially dubbed the Greater Woodfield Convention & Visitors Bureau in 1983, Meet Chicago Northwest promotes the attractions and hospitality businesses of Arlington Heights, Elk Grove Village, Itasca, Rolling Meadows, Roselle, Schaumburg, Streamwood and Wood Dale.
Before the pandemic, the region was overcoming the non-pedestrian-friendly stereotype of the suburbs in attracting meetings and trade shows to venues including the Schaumburg Convention Center.
But the ramping up of plans for entertainment, restaurants and stores in Schaumburg's 90 North area - including Andretti Indoor Karting & Games, expected to break ground next to the Renaissance Hotel this year - should make those efforts more successful, Larson said.
"It's going to be a game-changer," she declared.
Arlington Heights hadn't had much opportunity to mourn the loss of Arlington Park before the possibility of another lucrative tourism opportunity - a Chicago Bears stadium - entered the planning stages, Larson said.
Tracking tourism's return
Hotel room bookings have long been the primary way of charting the appeal of the area's attractions to visitors, but technology is about to add another.
While the ZIP codes of ticket buyers for Schaumburg Boomers games or Medieval Times performances have been easier to track, that's been less true for visitors at Woodfield Mall, diners at Arlington Heights' Arlington Alfresco or attendees of Elk Grove Village's free Mid-Summer Classics Concert Series.
The five suburban visitors bureaus in Cook County will begin a Tourism Alive program that uses cellphone data from visitors' devices equipped with GPS.
"It will give us a pretty good window of how far people are traveling," Larson said.
While pent-up demand for leisure travel and weddings has bounced back from the pandemic, weekday business travel has been a little slower to recover.
That's left hotel occupancy down about 5% from 2019 levels. But officials believe that will change soon.
"Everyone is sick to death of Zoom," Larson said. "Companies are investing in training. People want to get back in person with others who are like-minded."
Business + leisure travel
Linda Scheck, tourism director for the village of Hoffman Estates, believes that 2024 will see the full return of business travel.
"I honestly think as we sleepily come out of that COVID era that nothing beats a face-to-face meeting," Scheck said. "When the wedding market came back, it came back with a roar."
Indeed, leisure travel alone has been enough for Hoffman Estates to see post-pandemic travel revenues exceed those before the shutdowns.
The Now Arena is the top generator of stays at the village's nine hotels, and Hoffman Estates just received a $500,000 matching grant from the state to enhance the Village Green and its popular Hideaway Brew Garden just outside it.
Though Hoffman Estates is not a member of either agency, the village works cooperatively with both Meet Chicago Northwest to the east and the Elgin Area Convention & Visitors Bureau to the west, Scheck said.
DuPage County
The DuPage Convention & Visitors Bureau, meanwhile, draws not only on its proximity to O'Hare International Airport but also on its quaint downtowns, attractive wedding venues and scenic outdoors to draw visitors to the county's more than 100 hotels, Executive Director Beth Marchetti said.
Like its neighbors, DuPage has experienced a quicker recovery of leisure and wedding travel than business travel. But the county already has seen one hotel sell out in advance for next year's Democratic National Convention in Chicago and is busy prepping for the Medinah Country Club's hosting of the Presidents Cup and the 100th anniversary celebration of Route 66 in 2026, Marchetti said.
International tourists, who generally spend more money than domestic visitors, represent a market with high growth potential, she added.
The DuPage bureau will mark its 40th anniversary in 2025.
Marchetti said she and many of her colleagues in the industry tip their hats to the influence of the late downstate legislator and business executive Jim Reilly, who died last year at 77. His work toward making Illinois and the Chicago area an attractive place to visit included making McCormick Place and Navy Pier what they are today.
"Jim Reilly had the vision to make Illinois a tourist state," Marchetti said. "He was a pioneer in making Illinois a really attractive state for visitors and having tourism be an economic engine.
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Learn more about suburban attractions
Meet Chicago Northwest will be setting up tables showcasing many of the Northwest suburbs' attractions from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday in the Grand Court of Woodfield Mall in Schaumburg.