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According to the Illinois Governor’s Conference on Travel and
Tourism during fiscal year 2023, 111 million travelers visited
Illinois creating an economic impact of $78 billion.
Pandemic restrictions generated interest in rural outdoor
activities. During a University of Illinois Extension webinar on
marketing rural tourism, Pam Schallhorn said recreation
dependent counties grew more than twice as fast as the nation
overall and Midwest recreational counties mirrored the trend.
“If you're looking for growth, if you're looking for population
to move back into your community, if you’re looking for young
people to move in, then you ought to take whatever recreational,
natural resource tourism assets you have and make sure you get
it out to that group,” said Schallhorn.
This year’s eclipse gave a lot of southern Illinois towns a
tourism boost, as many reported hotels being booked weeks in
advance.
In 2022, the I-Rural Project, funded by the Extension and
Illinois’ Office of the Provost Investment for Growth Program,
developed a model to guide rural tourism development across the
state. The four river-based communities of Grafton, Galena,
Havana and Savanna piloted the project.
According to an I-Rural Project survey, the number one attribute
to attract tourists is natural scenery, followed by tourist
sites and then food. The rural attributes liked the least were a
long distance to a destination and a lack of shops and stores.
According to the survey, the top information sources about
tourism is from family and friends, followed by a previous visit
and social media.
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