Residents Are Important to Tourism’s Spread
Article By Nick Draper at myjournalcourier.com
Jacksonville Area Convention and Visitors Bureau was reminding the public during National Travel and Tourism Week (NTTW) that they, too, play an important role in getting people out and about in the community.
The NTTW, that ran through Saturday May 12, was an opportunity to highlight local tourism and create awareness for local tourist attractions. Bureau Executive Director Brittany Henry said that, although her organization plays a big role in marketing Jacksonville, business owners and residents also play a large role in promoting tourism in the area.
“I think at times, people often forget what’s in their backyard,” Henry said. “That’s the whole point, for me, for tourism week. When I can’t be on call, the people in our community are the ambassadors for us.”
Henry gave the example of Gwenn Eyer, innkeeper at Blessings on State Bed and Breakfast, who brings in people from across the state and beyond.
“She talked to me today about someone coming from the Kansas area and she’s just so great at pushing people out into the community,” Henry said. “She told them about the renovated Illinois Theater and so they went there to see a movie. They went to First Friday. She sent them to dinner at Lonzerotti’s. She does a great job of getting people out into the community. … There are many in the community that spread tourism and they don’t even know they’re doing it.”
So while the bureau continues to look for new ways to increase tourism within the city — such as increased social media marketing, a renovation of their ad designs, and distributing cards at hotels to let visitors to town learn about the city’s hot spots, everyone can play a small role in getting people to Jacksonville and seeing what the city has to offer.
Related: Power Your Community with a Online Tourism Ambassador Program
When people visit Jacksonville, Henry said, that’s money going into the local economy and directly contributing to local business growth.
Tourism in 2016 supported 310 jobs within the industry, which includes gas station attendants and hotel staff. It also generated $8.65 million in payroll, $50.28 million in visitor spending and $1.05 million in local tax revenue.
Future happenings for the bureau include a website redesign, continued production of video content on the bureau’s YouTube page, new Jacksonville shirts designed and printed by Open House Print Shop, and new promotional materials.
“Things are constantly being updated,” Henry said. “We’re really just trying to become more progressive and stay up on the times of tourism. A lot of that is the online presence … we’re still doing traditional print and billboard marketing, but we’re going to be trying more online ads. We’re shifting it, but we’re also keeping what we’ve traditionally done because it works.”
