For hoteliers, business is booming in Illinois.
On Monday, Gov. J.B. Pritzker, the state鈥檚 legislative leadership and representatives of the hospitality industry announced that hotels in Illinois saw record revenues in fiscal year 2023, which ended June 30.
Across the state, hotels brought in $307.8 million, according to figures from the state鈥檚 Department of Revenue. That beats fiscal year 2019, the previous record year for hotel income and the last year before the pandemic upended the hospitality industry.
Revenue in 2023 was up 35.8 percent from the prior year and 230.1 percent from fiscal year 2021, when the pandemic was still significantly affecting peoples鈥� travel habits.
鈥淭ourism means more jobs for hotel and hospitality and recreation workers 鈥� good paying jobs with health insurance,鈥� Pritzker said at a Monday news conference in Chicago. 鈥淢ore tourism means millions of new visitors exploring all the amazing things that our state and city have to offer.鈥�
Major events have helped bolster Illinois鈥� tourism industry in 2023, according to Kristin Richards, the head of the state鈥檚 Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity. These include the sold out Enjoy Illinois 300 NASCAR race in Madison and Taylor Swift鈥檚 Eras tour.
Swift鈥檚 fans, who descended on Chicago鈥檚 Soldier Field for three nights over the first weekend in June, contributed to Chicago seeing the highest weekend hotel occupancy rate in history 鈥� an average of 96.8% according to reporting from .
But hotel revenues are only one way to measure tourism鈥檚 impact. Other metrics have yet to match 2019鈥檚 records.
The state鈥檚 tourism office partners with analytics firm Tourism Economics to research visitors鈥� impact on the state鈥檚 economy. The agency reported to the state in June that Illinois saw 111.3 million visitors who spent $44.3 billion in calendar year 2022. Calendar year 2019, the highest year on record for both measures, saw 122.8 million visitors who spent a combined $45.5 billion.
The hotel industry as well has not fully recovered from the pandemic鈥檚 tourism industry interruptions.
Michael Jacobson, president of the Illinois Hotel and Lodging Association, said that while revenues have returned, staffing levels and occupancy rates overall have not yet reached pre-pandemic levels, although they were trending toward recovery.
鈥淲e look forward to returning to our place as one of the most significant economic engines, employers and taxpayers in the state,鈥� Jacobson said on Monday.
The state has made some significant investments in tourism in the past few years, including the $30.3 million 鈥淢iddle of Everything鈥� ad campaign. The campaign, which launched in the spring of 2022, stars television actress and Illinois native Jane Lynch.
The campaign鈥檚 first year brought in an additional 2 million visitors and generated $1 billion in Illinois hotels, restaurants, small businesses, and attractions, according to the state鈥檚 tourism office. The campaign recently launched a new set of TV ads this summer that feature the television star.
鈥淏eing able to share my passion for all things Illinois comes naturally, and getting to meet and work with so many inspiring people and unique businesses across the state is an honor,鈥� Lynch said in a June 23 news release.
Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service covering state government. It is distributed to hundreds of print and broadcast outlets statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation, along with major contributions from the Illinois Broadcasters Foundation and Southern Illinois Editorial Association.
