Visitor Spending in 2021 Nearly Reaches Pre-Pandemic Levels
December 14, 2022
Quad Cities (Wednesday, December 14, 2022) – Visitor spending in the Quad Cities generates significant economic benefits to local households, businesses, and the public sector from overnight stays, day trippers, meetings, conventions, sporting events, and group tours. The QC saw growth in tourism’s total value as it reached $1.14B and supported local 8,618 jobs for Quad Citizens in 2021. While tourism's economic impact is still below the pre-pandemic levels of 2019, the region is seeing a positive trend in growth.
“Tourism and non-resident revenues continue to add significant value for our regional economy, said Dave Herrell, President and CEO, Visit Quad Cities. “Tourism is delivering for our public sector partners by generating much-needed tax revenues to help regain our base to 2019 levels. We are seeing positive trends in key metrics, but I would caution the community that a full recovery will take time. We are pleased to see growth in total visitor spending for 2021 of $1.14B after a sharp decline in 2020, which dropped to $958.76M in visitor spending from a record year of $1.22B in 2019.”
Herrell continues, “In addition to these numbers from our state partners through Tourism Economics, and looking at FY22, our hospitality industry partners are realizing upticks in demand. Overall hotel/motel tax revenue collections for the public sector in FY22 were $6.5M in the region which was a big gain from $4.9M in FY21 after dropping to $4.6M in FY20; pre-pandemic collections were $6.2M in FY19. We are optimistic, but we must increase destination marketing investments to sustain overall economic recovery and drive overnight demand in the market.”
Quad Cities Regional Visitor Economy Summary
Category 2019 2020 2021
Total Visitor Spending $1.22B $958.76M $1.14B
Total Local Taxes Generated $74.79M $65.14M $74.69M
Total State Taxes Generated $76.48M $62.87M $68.23M
The 2021 numbers come from the Iowa Tourism Office (a division of the Iowa Economic Development Authority) and the Illinois Office of Tourism (a division of the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity). Both contract with Tourism Economics, the leading authority on travel and tourism research, to prepare a comprehensive model detailing the far-reaching impacts of visitor spending. The results of these studies are reported annually to show the industry's scope in terms of visitor spending and the total fiscal impact generated. A county-by-county analysis is part of the Tourism Economics report issued by both states to their destination marketing partners like Visit Quad Cities. The U.S. Travel Association also uses Tourism Economics to report the economic impact of tourism.
In addition to the reports provided by Iowa and Illinois, Visit Quad Cities is a member of the U.S. Travel Association and uses its data to measure and analyze tourism performance in the market. Other business intelligence tools include:
Event Impact Calculator (EIC):
The Destinations International (DI) Event Impact Calculator draws on different data sources to provide an industry-wide standard. These sources include industry-wide studies, destination organization-provided data, and government data into the calculator's underlying model. These data sources are updated annually to provide destinations with the most current results.
Smith Travel Research (STR)
Founded in 1985, STR provides premium data benchmarking, analytics, and marketplace insights for the global hospitality industry. The reports show the region's hotel occupancy, the average daily room rate (ADR) that hotels are charging for an overnight stay, and Revenue Per Available Room (RevPAR), a metric used in the hospitality industry to measure hotel performance.
Datafy
Datafy uses mobile devices and geofencing to gather data on each visitor 16 years or older. Visit Quad Cities is currently tracking visitation from 2018 to the present day. The data collected provides visitation numbers, demographics, visitor spending, interests, length of stay, and where they stay. Additionally, Visit Quad Cities can track year-to-year, month-to-month, and quarterly comparisons to see visitation trends and growth.
At its recent Annual Destination QC! Event, Visit Quad Cities shared its annual Destination Impact Report and how tourism is a critical part of the Quad Cities’ regional economy. By securing group business, advocacy efforts, and data-driven destination marketing tools that generate visitation, tourism is essential for Quad Cities' economy and recovery. Find out more at VisitQuadCities.com.
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.
About Tourism Economics
More than 300 leading companies, associations, and destinations work with Tourism Economics every year as a research partner. Their partner, Oxford Economics, is a leader in global forecasting and quantitative analysis. Tourism Economics worldwide client base comprises more than 1,500 international corporations, financial institutions, government organizations, and universities. Tourism Economics operates out of regional headquarters in Philadelphia and Oxford with offices in Belfast, Buenos Aires, Dubai, Frankfurt, London, and Ontario.
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Media Contact: Charlotte Doehler-Morrison, VP Marketing & Communications, Visit Quad Cities, 309-781-4235 cell