National Travel and Tourism Week 2022: Quad Cities Celebrates the ‘Future of Travel’
May 01, 2022
National Travel and Tourism Week 2022 (May 1-7) spotlights the collective strength of the U.S. travel industry.
Quad Cities (May 1, 2022) — National Travel and Tourism Week (NTTW), the annual celebration of the contributions of the U.S. travel industry, spotlights the critical role that travel plays in supporting our local economy, reconnecting travelers, and building the path forward. Visit Quad Cities, the region’s official destination management and marketing organization (DMMO), continues to focus on economic recovery and future positioning while sharing the remarkable story of the Quad Cities. QC, That’s Where tourism empowers our regional destination.
Celebrated annually the first full week in May, NTTW was created by Congress in 1983 to elevate the economic power of travel in the U.S. Visit ustravel.org/NTTW to learn more about National Travel and Tourism Week.
“NTTW has special significance this year as the travel industry looks ahead to a bright future,” said U.S. Travel Association President and CEO Roger Dow. “This NTTW is an opportunity to recognize the collective strength of the U.S. travel industry and how we are rebuilding to be more dynamic, innovative, sustainable, and inclusive in the months and years to come.”
“On behalf of our Board of Directors and team, we look forward to celebrating and sharing the powerful story of tourism, said Dave Herrell, President and CEO, Visit Quad Cities. “Tourism continues to move our regional destination forward in so many ways and supports local jobs. Its positive impact on our economic prosperity, community programming, and brand positioning is vital to the future of the Quad Cities. Tourism and the non-resident revenues including the significant tax revenue it creates for the public sector directly benefits quality of life and quality of place for our residents.
“This week is about shedding light on the positives of what it means to all of us locally and nationally,” Herrell continues. “Visit Quad Cities is proud to be a shared and common community value for the region and will continue to lead tourism development, destination marketing, and visitor experience as we compete for market share and world-wide attention.”
The travel & tourism industry is a vital part of the Quad Cities regional economy.
Visitors and non-resident revenues generate significant economic benefits to households, businesses, and the public sector. These impacts from visitation result from overnight stays, day trippers, meetings, conventions, sporting events, and group tours. In 2020, per the U.S. Travel Association and Tourism Economics, visitor spending in the Quad Cities generated $958.76M.
Through a partnership with Datafy, Visit Quad Cities can track overnight visitation and day-trippers coming into the Quad Cities regional destination. Datafy uses mobile devices and geofencing to gather data on each visitor 16 years or older.
Using Datafy, Visit Quad Cities tracked 2.6+ million unique visitors that made 13.6+ million trips to the Quad Cities and spent 45+ million visitor days for an average trip length of 3.3 days. This data was recorded from February 2018 through present day for visitors coming into the Quad Cities from a 50+ mile radius. Top cities generating the most visitation were Chicago, Cedar Rapids, Omaha, Dubuque, Des Moines, and Minneapolis.
In addition to working with Datafy, Visit Quad Cities has launched curated destination experiences with Bandwango. Bandwango is a travel technology-based platform designed to deliver access to places and experiences digitally. Visit Quad Cities uses Bandwango for the QC Coffee Trail, QC Family Pass, and QC Advanced Pro. In addition to the QC Ale Trail, these tourism products showcase our authentic and locally curated experiences.
Hosting Events Drive Economic Impact
Visit Quad Cities is constantly looking at opportunities that drive prosperity, value, and quality of place. The Quad Cities hosts hundreds of meetings, conferences, trade shows, military and family reunions, festivals & special events, and sports events of all sizes every year. These events generate a positive economic impact through non-resident revenues and help to employ 8,000 local residents in the tourism and hospitality industry. Visit Quad Cities works months and even years ahead of the actual event to ensure its success.
Sports tourism continues to generate a strong economic impact leading to bookings in the pandemic recovery phase, and growth is projected in this market for some time to come. In addition, the river cruise industry will highly-activate the world-renowned Mississippi River, our global asset. The Quad Cities has 54 stops from national cruise line companies this year with Viking Cruise Lines embarking on the Mississippi for the first time, joining American Queen Voyages and American Cruise Lines.
Visit Quad Cities is seeing an increase in requests for proposals from meeting planners this year, giving a positive outlook for the return of meetings, conferences, and conventions. This uptick similarly compares with the data U.S. Travel Association and Destination International is sharing regarding the meetings industry recovery.
Some of the upcoming events scheduled in 2022 to name a few include:
- NAIA Men’s Golf Championship, May 17-20 – TPC Deere Run
- Iowa Wastewater Conference, June 7-9 – RiverCenter
- Illinois State Cowboy Action Championship, July 14-17 – Holiday Inn Express, Moline
- 2022 Antique Automobile Club of America National Meet, August 11-14 – Bend XPO
- ISC World Tournament, August 14-20 – Greenvalley Sports Complex
- USS Leary Navy Reunion, September 7-10 - Holiday Inn Hotel & Conference Center - Rock Island
- PDGA Tim Selinske U.S. Masters Championships, September 7-11 – QC disc golf courses
- Tea Leaf Club International National Convention, September 7-11 - Holiday Inn Hotel & Conference Center - Rock Island
- Central Regional CrossFit Competition, September 16-18 – Mississippi Valley Fairgrounds
- Iowa Recycling & Solid Waste Management Conference, October 3-4 – Quad-City Waterfront Convention Center
- American Cue Sports Iowa State Pool Championships, October 17-23 – RiverCenter
- Lutherans for Life National Conference, October 18-22 - Holiday Inn Hotel & Conference Center - Rock Island
- Iowa Red Hat State Convention, October 27-30 – Best Western PLUS Steeplegate Inn
- American Cornhole League Open, October 28-30 – Bend XPO
According to research completed for the Tourism Master Plan, 93% of Quad Citizens feel that tourism has a positive impact on this region and 83% of residents are likely to encourage friends and family to visit. Tourism empowers people and place, but it is also a hyper-competitive space. The Tourism Master Plan’s recommendations continue to guide the region and will competitively position the QC for the future. Information on the plan can be found at https://visitquadcities.com/about/tourism-master-plan.
About Visit Quad Cities
Founded in 1990, Visit Quad Cities is the official Destination Management and Marketing Organization (DMMO) for the region. Visit Quad Cities is a private 501(c)(6) non-profit engine charged with driving economic opportunity through tourism, building our authentic brand, telling & selling the Quad Cities story, and enhancing Quad Citizens’ quality of life and quality of place.
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Media Contact: Charlotte Doehler-Morrison, VP Marketing & Communications, Visit Quad Cities, 309-781-4235 cell