Businesses in the Quad Cities are participating in National Tourism Week this week.
The tourism industry employs about 8,000 people in this area, and visitors help boost the local economy by about 800 million dollars per year, according to the Quad Cities Convention and Visitors Bureau.
President and CEO Joe Taylor says it's important to celebrate tourism because the industry affects all Quad Cities residents.
"So for example if I'm the owner of a shoe store, a motor-coach with 40 passengers may never roll up to my store and buy 40 pairs of shoes, but some of those 8,000 people that are employed in tourism by motor-coaches coming into our community will need those shoes, and those are the people who will be the shoe store's customer."
Taylor says the Quad Cities hosts about 1 million overnight visitors per year and tourism pays about 150 million dollars in local wages.
Tourism Week events are listed on the Convention and Visitors Bureau's website.