CHICAGO
Mayor Rahm Emanuel and David Whitaker, president & CEO of Choose Chicago, announced visitors to Chicago in 2016 reached 54.1 million—a new record and 2.9 percent increase over the previous year.
“Three years ago we set a goal for Chicago to reach 55 million visitors by 2020,” Mayor Emanuel said. “We had an incredible and record-breaking year in 2016, but we are not stopping there.”
In 2016, Chicago's tourism industry supported an estimated 145,137 jobs and $15 billion in direct tourism spending. That’s an increase of 20,000 new jobs since Mayor Emanuel took office.
Chicago’s visitor industry is supported by group business (also known as major meetings and conventions), paired with increasing leisure visitation. Leisure visitation reached a record of 40.65 million in 2016, a gain of 3.4 percent. Meanwhile, business visitation grew by 2.1 percent to 11.9 million.
“As we look ahead to 2017 and beyond, it remains imperative for us to focus on building the destination’s profile internationally and educating and reminding our partners in the travel industry, and the travelers we target, that Chicago is not only an amazing city to visit, but a top-notch place to convene and do business,” Whitaker said.
Chicago welcomed 52.55 million domestic visitors (+3.1 percent) and an estimated 1.56 million overseas visitors (-3.7 percent) in 2016. While there is projected continued growth from emerging markets such as China (+22.7 percent), India (+7.1 percent) and South Korea (+10.2 percent), economic uncertainty and unfavorable exchange rates are expected to influence declines in key European markets such as the United Kingdom (-18.3 percent), Germany (-6.1 percent) and Spain (-14.5 percent), among others.
Of the 31 major meetings and conventions held in Chicago in 2016, several set records: eight saw record-setting attendance; four had their most exhibiting companies participate; and four had their highest net square footage of exhibition space. These 31 meetings and conventions welcomed 916,888 attendees to Chicago in 2016. The estimated overall economic impact totals $1.32 billion.
Looking ahead, there will be 35 major meetings and conventions coming to Chicago in 2017. The number of room nights projected to be generated from these groups is 1.04 million.
