Summer is just around the corner, which means vacation travel season for most Americans. While most Chicago-area residents will be heading out to the countryside in the coming months, there’s a destination closer to home that’s just as fun: our beloved hometown.
Despite all the complaints about the city (taxes and cost of living are too high, there’s too much crime and homelessness), the latest Harris Poll shows that we really love what it has to offer, from the parks and museums to the nightlife and architecture, the downtown vibe and nonstop festivals.
For example, many residents plan to take advantage of Chicago’s entertainment venues as well as travel outside of Chicago before Labor Day. Additionally, nearly two-thirds of residents say the city’s big summer events, such as the return of NASCAR’s Chicago Street Races this year, are an important part of Chicago culture.
It’s not just civic pride that’s at stake: Tourists spend their credit cards along the way, supporting businesses, supporting jobs and generating tax revenue. If Mayor Brandon Johnson wants to provide social services to more people or subsidize a domed stadium for the Chicago Bears, tourism will provide him with at least some funding.
Chicago needs a sales boost: It was one of only two cities in the world not in the top 20 travel destinations this summer, according to Google Flights searches in the U.S. The other is San Francisco, which has joined Chicago in the media’s portrayal of a once-booming global city now stuck in a doomsday loop.
Chicago’s tourism industry is still recovering from travel and group gatherings that were banned when the pandemic hit in 2020. Choose Chicago, a primarily state-funded organization that focuses on marketing to meetings, events and leisure travelers, estimates that more than 50 million people visited Chicago last year, down from Chicago’s peak of about 60 million in 2019.
But even in reduced numbers, these visitors have a big impact: They spend an estimated $14 billion in the city, including about $1.8 billion in sales, hotel and other taxes, according to Choose Chicago, and Chicago’s tourism-related jobs total about 84,000.
Many locals continue to favor Chicago as a staycation destination: Half of city residents and 42% of suburban Cook County residents in the poll said they plan to visit the city this summer. Half of city residents and 59% of suburban residents said they plan to leave the city for summer vacation.
For both city and suburban residents, the top favorite city attractions are the lakefront and other parks, museums, and downtown entertainment venues like Navy Pier. Many also say they plan to go to Lollapalooza, Taste of Chicago, or other big events.
So how can Chicago really get away with it? Making the city safer is a top priority. Like most of the country, violent crime is on the decline, but our polling shows that public safety remains Chicagoans’ top concern. And if we’re worried, imagine what outsiders must think after years of headlines reporting Chicago as the murder capital of the Midwest, and even the entire country. (By the way, this is not a per capita figure; statistics like this should be calculated on a per capita basis.)
The mayor’s “Citizens Plan for Community Safety” aims to put resources into the city’s most disadvantaged neighborhoods, including through guaranteed income for residents, and to address the root causes of violence. Spending on social services could help, but it will take years to see results. Chicago’s tourism industry can’t wait that long.
Meanwhile, to appease out-of-town tourists, the city needs to market the city more than ever. And while it doesn’t have a permanent CEO, Choose Chicago is on the move: Its marketing team emailed data on tourism’s economic impact to hundreds of international leisure-travel package operators at a trade show in Los Angeles to pitch the city.
Chicago will host the association’s gathering next year for the first time since 2014, and bookings are expected to increase.
Chicagoans believe the efforts are paying off: Seven in 10 respondents said the city’s major summer festivals and events not only boost the city’s reputation, but also boost the local economy.
In her final years as mayor, Mayor Lori Lightfoot worked with the Chicago civic group Choose Chicago to win the honors of hosting a NASCAR race in Grant Park in 2023 and the Democratic National Convention at the United Center this summer. Both are risks, but both are opportunities for Chicago to promote itself to the rest of the world. The hope is that people will like what they see on social media and on TV and visit Chicago in person.
Let’s see how Johnson and Choose Chicago’s new CEO can outdo her.
Will Johnson is the Chicago-based CEO of The Harris Poll, the world’s leading public opinion polling company.
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