Published on : Wednesday, May 16, 2018
Like before, international travelers comprised a small fraction of that record-high figure. A total estimation of around 2.36 million visited from countries like Canada, China, the U.K., Mexico, Japan and Germany.
The remaining 111.5 million U.S. visitors were here for vacation purposes as opposite to work. Almost 83 percent were leisure travelers, the category which witnessed maximum growth. Around 17 percent were here on business reasons. The Illinois Office of Tourism gets the numbers of its domestic visitors from the travel research firm DK Shifflet and international visitor numbers from Tourism Economics.
To quote state tourism director Cory Jobe, “It was the domestic leisure market that drove our numbers; that’s what we focus on.” Cory credited numerous marketing initiatives with better selling Illinois as a destination not just for out-of-staters but residents alike.
“We’re encouraging more and more Chicagoans, instead of traveling out of state to Michigan and Wisconsin, we’re giving them new ways to travel in state — a lot of weekend getaways, road trip ideas, outdoor adventures,” Jobe said, noting the recent rollout of a new Frank Lloyd Wright trail in Illinois.
“You can experience several different unique products within a 70-minute to three-hour drive from Chicago,” he added. “We have a great message that’s resonating well with the consumer.”
Tags: illinois tourism