Metro East Sun

During the Illinois State Senate Tourism and Hospitality Committee hearing, Cory Jobe, CEO and president of Great Rivers & Routes Tourism Bureau, recommended investing more in natural resources and byways to lift local tourism.

He campaigned for an outdoor experience.

“Our state parks are critical to the economic success of many of our regions,” Jobe said. "I know that in Southwest Illinois, it's our active lifestyle, our outdoor recreation from hiking, biking, ziplining, rock climbing, and embracing the Mississippi River. We must see all the tremendous opportunities that we have."

Jobe also stated the huge impact the pandemic has caused on the state's tourism industry.

"Prior to the pandemic, travel and tourism was a significant contributor to the U.S. and Illinois economies, supporting millions of hardworking Americans of all backgrounds,” he said. “During the pandemic, visitor spending in America was down nearly five hundred billion dollars. Here in Illinois, traverse spending was down 50% versus 2019."

In the years before the pandemic, particularly in 2018 and 2019, visitors spent more than $1.4 billion in the counties of Calhoun, Greene, Jersey, Macoupin, Madison, and Montgomery in southwest Illinois. When the pandemic hit, the impact on the Illinois tourism industry was devastating.

"Due to the decline in travel, spending, federal, state and local tax receipts declined by 41%. Investments stalled all throughout the state," Jobe said.

To offset the drastic effect of the pandemic, Jobe and other local tourism stakeholders are promoting outdoor destinations in an attempt to spur local tourism revenue.

He said that they “had to pivot, and we found ways to support our small businesses as a certified destination marketing organization."