Rockford visitor spending in 2014 has increased by 6.3 percent, according to an announcement made this week by the Illinois Office of Tourism.
The announcement was made as part of the Illinois Office of Tourism’s annual roadshow. John Groh is the president of the Rockford Area Convention and Visitors Bureau. Groh said this tells him that Rockford’s appeal as a place to visit is growing.
“Word is getting out and folks are not only taking notice of the Rockford region as a travel destination, they’re actually taking action and coming here in increasing numbers.”
Groh said there is always a higher bar to set, and the city of Rockford can’t rest on its laurels.
“Some of the things I think our visitors and our residents will see in the next year include the opening of our new state-of-the-art downtown sports complex, which will serve our residents and bring new basketball, volleyball and other tournaments to our community. Sportscore 2 is being expanded; there are new downtown hotel projects in the works for Rockford; and, throughout all of the Rockford region, there is great things happening that will draw in new visitors and also provide really compelling reasons for this to be a great place to live.”
The tourism office said more than 109 million visitors spent 36.3 billion dollars in the state in 2014. The Rockford area brought in 340 million from tourism.
Groh said Rockford reported 2,700 jobs in the hospitality sector were supported by visitors. Groh said this is a very exciting thing for Rockford.
“When we see that visitors spent 6.3 percent more money in 2014 than they did the year before, and when we think about the reality that was the one of the strongest growth rates in the entire state, we’re really excited."
Editor's Note: earlier versions of this story incorrectly identified the amount of tourism money spent in the state as having been spent in Rockford. We regret the error.