HR0133enr 98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR0133 Enrolled LRB098 11267 MST 42350 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION 133

WHEREAS, Tourism is a crucial and growing component of the Illinois economy; and

WHEREAS, It is an established State policy to recognize and support the economic impact of tourism, particularly to Chicago where the greatest potential economic impact for the State can be enjoyed; and

WHEREAS, In order to dramatically increase the economic impact of tourism, Choose Chicago has recently announced an ambitious goal of 50 million annual visitors to Chicago and has placed Chicago in the expected top 5 U.S. destinations for international travel by 2020; and

WHEREAS, It is in the interest of the entire State of Illinois to help reach that goal of 50 million annual visitors to Chicago by 2020; and

WHEREAS, Increasing visitors to Chicago has a secondary benefit of exposing those visitors to potential trips throughout Illinois; and

WHEREAS, Most tourists to Illinois come from the Midwest as the top 5 states providing visitors to Illinois in 2011 were Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Missouri, according to the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity's 2011 Economic Impact of Tourism report; and

WHEREAS, Illinois hosted 93.3 million visitors in 2011, a 10% increase aver 2010, fueled by an 11.8% increase in leisure travel according to the same report; and

WHEREAS, Because most of our visitors come from the Midwest now, the most likely source for finding additional tourists to achieve the goal of 50 million annual visitors to Chicago is from the states in the Midwest; and

WHEREAS, The residents of many smaller communities in the Midwest who are the target market for tourists do not have access to affordable, frequent, convenient flights to Chicago, either because there isn't a nearby airport or because the flights from their airport to Chicago are not affordable, frequent, or convenient; and

WHEREAS, Driving more than 100 miles can be very inconvenient, particularly due to the relatively high cost of parking in Chicago (especially compared to the low-cost or no-cost of parking in much of the Midwest) and the significant traffic congestion around Chicago; and

WHEREAS, Many downstate communities with tourist attractions do not have any air service at all, requiring an alternative way of bringing tourists to their communities; and

WHEREAS, The State of Illinois has been a leader in investing in Amtrak to provide more intercity passenger train service, doubling the frequency of round-trips in 2006 and investing State funds in improving the infrastructure of the St. Louis-Springfield-Normal-Joliet-Chicago line; and

WHEREAS, Ridership on Amtrak service has broken records every year for the last 5 years; and

WHEREAS, A majority of Amtrak riders on weekends, and a significant amount on weekdays, are not business travelers but are rather leisure travelers or traveling to visit family or friends, according to a State-authorized 2011 survey of passengers aboard the Milwaukee-Chicago Amtrak Hiawatha service; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-EIGHTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we fully support the goal of 50 million annual visitors to Chicago by 2020; and be it further

RESOLVED, That we recognize that the majority of these additional tourists are likely to come from the Midwest; and be it further

RESOLVED, That the easiest way to get tourists from the Midwest to visit Chicago is to make it easier for tourists from the Midwest to visit Chicago; and be it further

RESOLVED, That we call upon all other stakeholders in the tourism economy to recognize that offering more affordable, frequent, convenient passenger train service, both through expanding Amtrak and through new high speed rail connecting midwest communities to Chicago is a crucial strategy to reach our economic goal of 5O million annual visitors to Chicago by 2020.