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Tourism officials have plans to offset 2008 slowdown

Posted February 13, 2008 10:00 pm

Tim Landis

High gasoline prices, a bumpy stock market and an uncertain economy will make it harder to keep the tourists coming in 2008, the state's top economic development official said in Springfield Thursday.

But a variety of initiatives are planned - celebrations leading up to the 200th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln's birth in 2009 and stepped-up efforts to bring the 2016 Olympics to Chicago - to grab the state's share.

"Rising oil prices, an unstable stock market and public anxiety over the economy are challenges that will require us all to work even harder," Jack Lavin, director of the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, told 500 tourism officials from around the state at the annual Illinois Governor's Conference on Tourism.

The three-day conference at the Hilton Springfield finishes up today.

He also used the conference to highlight efforts to bring the 2016 Olympics and Paralympics for people with disabilities to Chicago. The state will learn in June whether Chicago is among four finalist cities worldwide.

The host city will be selected in 2009, and Chicago is the only U.S. city still in the running.

"It presents us with a unique opportunity to not only attract hundreds of thousands of visitors to our state, but also to place ourselves … in the homes of millions of people all around the world," Lavin said.

He said after his speech that legislation would be introduced this spring to offer state revenue guarantees in cooperation with the city of Chicago as part of the Olympic bid, though he added it is unlikely the money would be needed.

"None of the Olympics has finished in the red since 1984. It's just part of the requirement, but we wouldn't expect that it (the revenues) would be necessary," said Lavin.

City officials and tourism-related businesses in Springfield are counting on a surge in visitors this year tied to the Lincoln bicentennial celebrations.

Still, co-owner Pat Sawyer of The Feed Corral in Mechanicsburg said she has learned during 18 years of bringing horse-drawn carriage and trolley rides to Springfield that tourism can be an uncertain business.

"We sure don't count on it. This is a slow time for everybody. We basically consider this shutdown time to get everything done around the barns and stables," said Sawyer, who planned to be in the city Thursday for Valentine's Day rides.

She said any state promotion that gets more people to town helps, but that the carriage rides do better when there's a special, local event such as the "Christmas Walk" of the downtown historic sites or holiday events at Washington Park.

"They're getting bigger turnouts than they use to. We've had times when people were lined up around the block," she said.

Deputy director for the Illinois Bureau of Tourism Jan Kostner said a series of initiatives this year include an updated "Soul of Illinois" guide to African-American heritage, a Hispanic Web site to be launched in the spring, stepped up promotions to international travelers, and highlighting the state's "green" initiatives in areas such as clean-coal technology, alternative energy and recycling.

"We know we face challenges, but our tourism has been growing when the industry has been flat," said Kostner.

Tim Landis can be reached at (217) 788-1536.

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