Visit Quad Cities President and CEO Dave Herrell says during the fiscal year from July of 2021, to last June, 1.6 million people came here from out-of town.
"14 million visitor days spent in the Quad Cities, 4.5 million visits to the destination, with an average trip length of 3.1 days."
And 30 million dollars was added to the local economy from meetings, conferences, conventions, and sports events.
Hotel occupancy went from 39 per cent in 2020 to 53 per cent this year.
Herrell says annual spending by visitors to the Quad Cities dropped by more than 200 million dollars from 2019 to 2020 due to the pandemic, and he wants to make sure we get that money back.
"The importance of bragability, the importance of resident pride, and trying to do the things we can do to galvanize support in the public sector and private sector just to further advance our competitive position."
In addition he estimates visitors support 8,000 jobs in this area, but he worries a possible recession could reduce tourism again, the same way it did in the spring of 2020.
