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LaSalle County tourism staff outline digital targeting and visitor-tracking tools used in campaigns
Summary
County staff and partners discussed use of PlacerAI, Zartico, Sojourn and a passport program to measure where visitors come from and whether they book overnight stays; staff reported guide distribution numbers and recent digital campaign performance.
LaSalle County tourism staff and partner organizations described digital targeting and visitor-tracking methods at the June 20 committee meeting and reported early metrics from recent campaigns.
Kurt Bedai (City of LaSalle) and Kate (Heritage Corridor marketing) explained that the committee uses cell-phone analytics services such as PlacerAI and Zartico to estimate visitor origin ZIP codes and congregation points; Kate said Zartico filters for visitors coming from 50 miles or greater to identify likely overnight travelers. Kate also described using Sojourn for targeted digital ads and said the platform enabled tracking of 16,000 confirmed traveler actions last year — clicks that led to bookings or travel-related activity.
Ryan, the tourism staff member responsible for guide distribution, reported that the office had distributed 338 of 550 cases of the county travel guide and had recently sent 22 boxes to Visit Northern Illinois travel centers. Ryan provided website and social metrics for the month, including roughly 6,894 page views and top social posts that promoted area festivals.
Anna Koval (Canal Quarter Association) and coalition representatives reviewed a passport program in which 12 LaSalle County historic sites participate; visitors collect stamps and enter monthly prize drawings after visiting at least 10 locations. Anna said participating sites paid a modest fee to offset stamp production and distribution costs.
Patricia Martin (Here and Again Inc.) and other presenters noted that digital and targeted buys are used to encourage longer stays; several presenters said they hoped tracking would show spillover visits to neighboring towns and encourage overnight stays. Staff and presenters emphasized that many of the visitation estimates are based on third-party analytics and on registration/admission data; they described those figures as estimates rather than exact counts.
In a separate coalition update, Anna said that state-level budget changes could reduce future IDNR OSLAD grant funding for parks; staff advised organizers that previously funded grants would not be affected but encouraged outreach to state legislators for future grant cycles.
