Experience CU outlines 2027 strategy, credits tourism with $666.9 million in visitor spending

Jane Deluis, director of Experience CU, presented the tourism agency’s Destination 2027 strategic plan to the Urbana City Council on Oct. 14, saying the regional visitor economy produced $666,900,000 in spending over the past year, supported 5,033 jobs and generated $19,300,000 in local tax receipts. “We like to think of ourselves as destination champions in promoting a welcoming destination for residents and visitors alike,” Deluis said.

The presentation told council members that payroll tied to tourism reached $172,700,000 (an increase of about 2%), and that the region’s hotel tax receipts rose about 12% after the organization rebranded from Visit Champaign County to Experience Champaign Urbana. Deluis highlighted marketing gains tied to the rebrand: website traffic increases, higher click-through rates on advertising and stronger engagement with restaurant-week promotions.

Deluis described how the agency uses targeted bid incentives to attract events she said deliver outsized local impact. She said the organization paid $12,000 to attract a quadball (formerly “Quidditch”) tournament that produced an estimated $324,000 local impact, and paid $8,000 in incentives for a middle-school basketball championship estimated to bring $2.1 million into area businesses. The agency also negotiated a five-year renewal to continue hosting the IHSA state boys basketball tournament in Urbana and highlighted simultaneous events such as the IHSA wheelchair basketball championships and Special Olympics tournaments.

Deluis reviewed Experience CU’s public-art programs and visitor-facing products, including an art-trail passport that features more than 200 public artworks, and Accessible CU, an initiative that lists over 80 businesses that have been evaluated for physical and cognitive accessibility by community members. She also described grant assistance the agency provides to small businesses to help them secure state funding or other support.

Why it matters: Deluis framed tourism as a year-round economic driver that benefits restaurants, lodging, retail and service businesses, and emphasized that planned demonstrations and marketing strategies aim to grow visitor dollars while broadening who benefits locally. She said Experience CU will follow up with councilmembers who asked for additional detail on Urbana-specific participants in Restaurant Week.

The council offered brief questions and Deluis said she would provide a follow-up list of Restaurant Week participants in Urbana.