There’s more good news in the world of tourism!  Last week the Illinois Department of Commerce & Economic Opportunity (DCEO) issued a press release and numbers highlighting the increase in economic impact of tourism in 2010 for East Central Illinois.  According to DCEO, “visitors to the six east central Illinois counties generated nearly $407.3 million in local economic impact. Statewide, Illinois’ tourism industry generated $29.3 billion in revenue in 2010, an increase of more than $2.2 billion as visitor spending continued to provide a strong economic impact to the state, supporting hundreds of thousands of jobs.”

Champaign County had a reported $266.1 million in economic impact in 2010, up 5.9 percent.  The other counties in DCEO’s East Central Illinois region also saw considerable improvement in economic impact numbers.

Douglas - $30.6 million, up 3.1 percent

Ford - $5.4 million, up 3.7 percent

Iroquois - $29.0 million, up 8.4 percent

Piatt - $5.8  million, up 5.3 percent

Vermillion - $70.5 million, up 6.2 percent

according to the U.S. Travel Association

How great to see the hard work of our local tourism industry (and the many who indirectly impact the industry) paying off.  With support from the State of Illinois and its strong branding efforts, bringing visitors to Champaign County is such a great pleasure. 

“The economic impact of tourism in Illinois has grown by more than $3 billion during the past five years. Additionally, the travel industry generated 287,500 jobs in Illinois in 2010, directly and indirectly supporting one in 10 jobs in the state. On average, visitors spend nearly $80 million with Illinois businesses every day.”

Let’s keep up the hard work!

View the full press release: Illinois tourism East Central Tourism numbers.doc