Taylor Swift, pandemic’s finish immediate file Illinois resort income

Gov. J.B. Pritzker and main tourism leaders on Monday introduced the state broke its resort income file — thanks partly to Taylor Swift and a post-pandemic growth in visits to Illinois.

The state’s resort income for the fiscal 12 months ending June 30 reached $309 million — beating a pre-pandemic 2019 file of $296 million. In whole, 111 million guests spent $40 billion on all tourism in 2022. That’s 14 million further vacationers who spent $12 billion greater than the earlier 12 months.

“Our tourism trade is again and it’s booming,” Pritzker mentioned at a Chicago information convention. “And that’s the factor about Illinois. When the individuals of the state got down to do one thing, we expect huge and we get the job finished. Tourism means extra jobs for motels, hospitality and recreation — good paying jobs.”

Three consecutive Taylor Swift live shows final month helped to interrupt an all-time resort weekend occupancy file in Chicago.

Ashlee Rezin/Solar-Occasions file

Illinois Division of Commerce and Financial Alternative Director Kristin Richards credited the Get pleasure from Illinois 300 NASCAR race, held final month in Madison close to the Missouri border, with boosting tourism downstate. Rend Lake and Walkers Bluff in southern Illinois additionally noticed a rise in tourism.

The Illinois Resort and Lodging Affiliation mentioned file attendance on the 2022 Illinois State Honest, Lollapalooza and Suenos music festivals in Chicago and the John Deere Basic within the Quad Cities additionally helped increase resort numbers. Having the Illinois Legislature again in full session for the primary time since 2020 helped downtown Springfield — and company relocations, similar to Rivian in Bloomington, additionally helped improve resort site visitors.

State and native tax income from customer spending totaled in $4.2 billion in 2022, based on a Tourism Economics Report. The report additionally famous there have been 270,600 staff within the state’s tourism and hospitality trade, a rise of 38,300 jobs from 2021. 

Screenshot from Illinois.gov

Earlier than the pandemic, the state’s resort occupancy fee was the biggest rising supply of tax income. Whereas income is up, enterprise journey continues to lag — and resort staffing ranges additionally stay under pre-COVID-19 numbers, mentioned Michael Jacobson, Illinois Resort and Lodging Affiliation president.

He used the excellent news press convention to ship out a job pitch.

“If you’re contemplating a profession change, we’d like to have you ever be a part of the resort trade,” Jacobson mentioned. “Wages right here in Chicago begin round $23 an hour, and the advantages are higher than they’ve ever been. Moreover, lots of our jobs don’t even require a school diploma.”

State tourism leaders additionally credited the increase in resort revenues to a state tourism marketing campaign known as “Center of All the things” that includes actress and Dolton native Jane Lynch, which launched in 2022. The governor’s workplace mentioned the marketing campaign has helped to usher in 2 million journeys, including $1 billion spent in Illinois motels, eating places, small companies and sights.