With the pandemic now over, what’s the future of tourism? What does the decline of full-time office employees mean for tourism and business travel? Why hasn’t U.S. solved its visa delay mess? We’ll discuss these topics with the executives of NYC Tourism+Conventions, U.S. Travel Association, Visit Britain, Intrepid Travel and others on-stage at the Skift Global Forum in New York on September 26-28.
Chicago Looks to Drive New Tourism to Overlooked South Side
25.08.2023 - 14:04 / skift.com / Dawit Habtemariam / Lynn Osmond
Chicago tourism officials plan to drive visitation into and expand its marketing coverage for South Side and West Side neighborhoods after receiving a $5.5 million grant from the city government.
The grant originated from the $1.9 trillion 2021 American Relief Plan Act. Local governments received a portion to support their recovery. The city of Chicago was allocated $1.9 billion. The city has been using the funds to help neighborhoods and communities recover from the pandemic, with tourism being an avenue.
The city’s economic inequalities have worsened since the pandemic. Food insecurity has increased 19 percent from pre-pandemic levels, and 37 percent higher for Black households.
Chi-Town tourism is still in recovery mode. It received around 50 million visitors last year, still down from 60 million in 2019, according to Lynn Osmond, president and CEO of Choose Chicago, the city’s tourism agency. Choose Chicago expects a full recovery to come in the first quarter of 2025.
At the moment, Choose Chicago currently works with Woodlawn and Bronzeville and 16 other neighborhoods, many of which are in the South Side and West Side. With the $5.5 million grant, it will expand its coverage to Englewood, South Chicago, North Lawndale, Hyde Park, Rosedale and multiple other neighborhoods in those areas.
Choose Chicago selected the neighborhoods that were ready to embrace tourism. “Not all 77 neighborhoods are ready for tourists, whether it be from cultural assets, tourism readiness or safety issues,” Osmond said.
For Chicago, visitor expectations center around spots like Millennium Park, Willis Tower and Navy Pier. “It’s been our experience they’ve been surprised when they get the opportunity to check out the South Side,” said Frank McGee, a Chicago native and marketing manager of Chicago Private Tours, which tries to take 90 percent of its guests to the South Side.
South Side neighborhoods are often overlooked and don’t get the attention they deserve due to public misconceptions. “There’s a lot of concern around safety, especially among international folks,” McGee said. “Unfortunately the media in the past has kind of signed onto proliferating that negative perception.”
Inclusive tourism is increasingly become a popular trend among American tourism agencies. Meet Boston most recently used its $35 million budget to support initiatives drive visitation to the city’s diverse neighborhoods beyond the traditional hotspots and spread the wealth of tourism.
South Side and West Side neighborhoods have been victims of historic inequities. In Englewood, which is predominantly Black, the median income of the neighborhood was $22,228 between 2016 and 2020, compared to $62,097 for the whole city, according to the Chicago
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