Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Tourism And Economic Development topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Visit Lake County touts marketing gains, cites $2 billion county visitor spend and flavor festival
Summary
Maureen Reedy, president of Visit Lake County, told the Village of Gurnee board that upgraded digital marketing, seasonal campaigns and partnerships helped drive visitation and that Lake County visitor spending in 2023 approached $2 billion; she highlighted a monthlong Flavor Festival and local promotional work in Gurnee.
Maureen Reedy, president of Visit Lake County, told the Village of Gurnee board on Feb. 24 that the county’s tourism office refreshed its website, ran seasonal marketing campaigns and is promoting a monthlong Flavor Festival to drive visitors to Gurnee and other Lake County communities.
Reedy said Visit Lake County updated its website this year with mobile-first navigation (about 80% of visitors use mobile), published 152 blogs and produced roughly 390 digital posts promoting local events. She said the office promoted 145 Gurnee events last year and highlighted cooperative marketing with Gurnee as one of four co-op partners in the winter holiday campaign.
“Enjoy a month of frights and delights in Lake County,” Reedy said, describing the fall “Spooks & Spirits” campaign anchored by Fright Fest; she also previewed the Lake County Flavor Festival, a monthlong restaurant, brewery and distillery promotion running in February.
Reedy presented sales and group-business figures, saying Visit Lake County’s sales team generated 32 business opportunities or referrals for Gurnee venues and that 19 groups booked stays in Gurnee-area properties last year. She said the county used $250,000 in ARPA funds over roughly 2½ years to support business incentive grants aimed at recruiting larger groups and tournaments that bring hotel nights and spend to area businesses.
Reedy cited a countywide economic-impact figure: visitor spending in Lake County in 2023 was “almost $2,000,000,000,” which she said represents direct spending on accommodations, food, attractions, retail and transportation. She also presented county-level visitor data from a platform called Zartiko and said Visit Lake County analyzes spending by visitors who travel more than 50 miles from home or work.
Trustees asked clarifying questions about the data. Trustee Christine Carlson noted that the per-visitor food spending figure — shown as about $65 in one chart — looked low; Reedy said the platform reports averages and that the category mixes restaurants and grocery stores, and that the dashboard’s methodology (50-mile definition) affects the averages. She and staff said they may evaluate other visitor-intelligence data sources in future reporting.
Reedy closed by thanking village leaders for Gurnee’s long partnership with Visit Lake County and noting the organization’s accreditation through Destinations International.
