Tourism chief Dave Herrell was not afraid to say it – the Quad Cities needs to step up and brag itself up more, help tell the region’s story and recognize the bistate region as a destination that visitors want to visit. “Bragability – I don’t even know if it’s a word, but I used it,” […]
Tourism chief Dave Herrell was not afraid to say it – the Quad Cities needs to step up and brag itself up more, help tell the region’s story and recognize the bistate region as a destination that visitors want to visit. “Bragability – I don’t even know if it’s a word, but I used it,” Dave Herrell, Visit QC’s president and CEO, told a crowd Thursday afternoon, Nov. 17, at the organization’s annual Destination QC! Event. “Only 48% of residents are willing to brag about living in the Quad Cities. That number gets painfully low the younger that you get. That is, I think, an existential threat to our community. It’s something everybody in this room should take to heart. And we have to figure out how we can get that 48% north.”Visit Quad Cities presented two Destination Impact Awards on Thursday, Nov. 17, as part of its annual meeting to Nancy Ballenger and Maria Ontiveros, center from left. The awards were presented by Immediate Past Chairman Kai Swanson, left, and Board Chairman Ben Leischner, right. CREDIT VISIT QUAD CITIESGathered at the newly renamed Vibrant Arena at the Mark, Moline, Mr. Herrell and other tourism leaders told a crowd of 160 supporters – including board members, stakeholder, hospitality industry workers as well as private and public sector leaders, of tourism’s significant role in the region, its rebound after COVID-19, as well as its promising future. “Tourism continues to sustain and grow our economy,” Mr. Herrell said. “Today’s event amplifies our priority to identify opportunities to further advance the organization’s value through storytelling and community education. As we think about the destination of the future, we must align stronger to position the Quad Cities region to compete for attention and prosperity but also to frame our community’s values, goals, and energy for competitive advantage.”Citing U.S. Travel Association and Tourism Economics statistics, he said the Quad Cities regional visitor economy saw $958.76 million in visitor spending in 2020. While that number is rebounding, it still is below the record $1.2 billion that visitors spent locally in 2019.Dave Herrell, Visit Quad Cities president and CEO, talks about the region's strength and the need for continued collaboration as a ribbon-cutting photo of the new Interstate 74 bridge is displayed. CREDIT VISIT QUAD CITIES
Other statistics he shared included:
The Quad Cities tourism and hospitality industry accounts for 8,000 jobs.
Visit Quad Cities generates $30 million in direct economic impact by securing group business.
Through a partnership with Datafy, Visit Quad Cities now tracks overnight visitation and day-trippers coming into the region by using mobile devices and geofencing. The new tool shows 1.6 million unique visitors from a 50+ mile radius made 4.5 million trips here from July 1, 2021, to June 30, 2022.
The top markets for visitation were Chicago, Cedar Rapids-Waterloo-Iowa City and Dubuque, Des Moines, and Peoria-Bloomington. Outside Illinois and Iowa, the leading source states were Wisconsin, Indiana, Missouri and Minnesota.
Without a thriving visitor economy, Quad Citizens would shoulder $1,400 more in yearly taxes per household.
Visit QC is one of only 200 organizations to have earned the Destination Marketing Accreditation’s seal.
With an emphasis on the “QC, That’s Where” regional brand, Visit Quad Cities’ advertising campaigns garnered more than 18 million impressions; saw 400,000 website visitor sessions – the highest since the pandemic began; and garnered its highest social media presence through Facebook with 3.67 million impressions.
The Quad Cities region boasts 7,000 hotel rooms and 80 properties, which in fiscal 2022, reported an 53% average occupancy rate.
More than 37 million people live within a six-hour drive of the Quad Cities.
“We just have to figure out how to get more people here,” Mr. Herrell said. As part of the event, Mindfire Communications’ Arsonist Denise Hnytka interviewed Nancy Ballenger and Maria Ontiveros, both members of Visit QC’s Tourism Master Plan Implementation Leadership Committee, in a talk show format. After their discussion, the pair were presented with the tourism bureau’s Destination Impact Awards. The awards, presented by Visit QC Board Chairman Ben Leischner and Immediate Past Chair Kai Swanson, recognize an individual or organization that has made a meaningful contribution to the Quad Cities regional destination’s success and has achieved extraordinary outcomes. .About the Award Winners:
Nancy Ballenger has a 30+ year career in the casino/hospitality industry. She was a member of the inaugural team (then Diamond Lady) that launched riverboat gaming in Iowa in 1991. She is currently the senior vice president and general manager of the Isle Casino Hotel Bettendorf (a Caesars Entertainment property), the largest hotel in Iowa. In 2018, Ms. Ballenger was awarded the Iowa Women Leaders in Gaming Founders Award and in 2019, she was a nominee for the Athena International – Women Lead Change award. She is a current board member of the Iowa Gaming Association.
Maria Ontiveros is the corporate community liaison for Illinois Quad Cities-based Group O, one of the largest U.S. Hispanic-owned companies. She also is president and co-founder of Mercado on Fifth and a recent QCBJ Forty Under 40 honoree. She helped launch the Spanish language Food Sanitation Management program at Black Hawk College to assist Spanish speakers in becoming certified to open food service businesses. Since its inception, Mercado has helped create and/or provided a platform for over 50 new minority-owned businesses. Ms. Ontiveros, a 2008 graduate of Bettendorf High School and a 2012 graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, also serves as a board member of the Rock Island County Metropolitan Mass Transit District (MetroLINK), Visit Quad Cities, United Way Quad Cities, Quad City Arts and Two Rivers YMCA.
During his presentation, Mr. Herrell discussed the tourism organization’s efforts to tell the Quad Cities’ story and urged all to join in that effort. “This is really a crucial story and it’s a crucial story for crucial times.” “Tourism is a growth engine. We talk about things like quality of place, quality of life and vibrancy. All of these things that are at our core and so central to what we do and also galvanizing civic pride,” he said. “We all want to be proud of the community we live in…”“Visit Quad Cities has clarity of purpose and some big goals that we need to achieve, and our Board of Directors and team are committed to working alongside our stakeholders to get there,” he added.
“Tourism continues to sustain and grow our economy,” Mr. Herrell said. “Today’s event amplifies our priority to identify opportunities to further advance the organization’s value through storytelling and community education. As we think about the destination of the future, we must align stronger to position the Quad Cities region to compete for attention and prosperity but also to frame our community’s values, goals, and energy for competitive advantage.”
Citing U.S. Travel Association and Tourism Economics statistics, he said the Quad Cities regional visitor economy saw $958.76 million in visitor spending in 2020. While that number is rebounding, it still is below the record $1.2 billion that visitors spent locally in 2019.
