NEW YORK CITY, CHICAGO AND AMERICAN AIRLINES PARTNER TO BOOST TRAVEL BETWEEN THE TWO CITIES
Posted on October 20th, 2010 by Amber Holst
New York City and American Airlines today joined Chicago tourism officials to announce their first-ever collaborative effort to bolster tourism and promote travel between New York City and Chicago in 2011. This city-to-city partnership comes as NYC & Company continues its national Live More Tour, designed to give travel incentives to visitors through exclusive flight deals and consumer offers in the two destinations. NYC & Company CEO George Fertitta; Chicago Convention & Tourism Bureau Executive Vice President Mark Theis; Chicago Office of Tourism Director Dorothy Coyle and American Airlines Vice President of Passenger Sales–Central Division Thomas Aichele made the announcement at Millennium Park in Chicago.
“The visitor industry drives a key component of Chicago’s economy, bringing in more than $10 billion in spending each year and helping to sustain restaurants, hotels and local businesses. We would not be the vibrant city we are today without the visitor industry,” said Mark Theis, Executive Vice President and CEO of the Chicago Convention & Tourism Bureau. “This is an important effort to reinvigorate travel, and we are proud to join forces with a great American airline and another world-class American city. I encourage New Yorkers to shop our Magnificent Mile, experience Broadway in Chicago and indulge in a slice of authentic Chicago pizza. Thanks to this partnership, there’s no better time to book a flight.”
“Chicago and NYC are both outstanding year-round destinations, full of great events and activities that take place both indoors and out. We are very excited to be partnering with NYC & Company and American Airlines to encourage travel between our cities,” said Dorothy Coyle, Director of the Chicago Office of Tourism.
To promote travel between New York City and Chicago, American Airlines today unveiled a special limited-time reciprocal airfare deal of $89 each way. Reservations must be made and tickets must be purchased by October 22, 2010. Valid for round-trip travel to O’Hare airport and to the three primary New York City airports (JFK, LGA, EWR). The valid travel period will be January 5, 2011 to February 25, 2011 with embargoes from January 15-17 and February 18-21, 2011.
The Live More Tour—targeting travel between New York City and the metropolitan areas of Miami, Chicago and Los Angeles—comes on the heels of the Obama Administration’s appointment last month of NYC & Company’s CEO George Fertitta to the 11-member Corporation for Travel Promotion. The board is tasked with administering the successful launch of the Travel Promotion Act, which will put in place a new public-private matching-funds program featuring up to $100 million in private-sector contributions and, potentially, $200 million overall to promote the United States. The landmark legislation is expected to generate approximately $4 billion in new visitor spending and create 40,000 new jobs annually.
Last year New York City welcomed approximately 555,000 Chicagoans while approximately 872,000 New Yorkers visited the Chicago area. More than 4.4 million total passengers traveled between Chicago and New York City, with 37 percent flying on American Airlines. There are more than 50,500 flights per year between Chicago’s O’Hare and Midway airports and the three major airports that serve New York City; American Airlines represent 30 percent of flights to O’Hare.
In 2009, Chicago welcomed 39.6 million visitors representing $10.2 billion in spending and 125,000 jobs.
In the months ahead, the City of Chicago encourages visitors to take advantage of the many, world-class events taking place across the city including skating on the world’s highest ice rink at the John Hancock Center (January 1–March 31); Chicago Boat Show (January 12–16); Snow Days Festival (January 28–30); Chicago Winter Dance in Millennium Park (February 5–27); Chicago Auto Show (February 11–20); Chicago Restaurant Week (February 18–27) and museum free-admission days. These events, combined with the lowest rates of the year at hotels. make for a fun, affordable trip.
For more information on booking travel to New York City, visit nycgo.com. For more information on travel to Chicago, visit explorechicago.org and readysetchicago.com.
Tags: CCTB, Chicago Office of Tourism, Chicago Tourism, Industry News, live more tour, new york city tourism
Hear Governor Quinn Speak July 13
Posted on July 9th, 2010 by Adam Marks
The River North Business Association is hosting a luncheon where you can learn about Governor Quinn’s vision for Illinois’ future.
The event takes place on Tuesday, July 13 at the Holidy Inn Chicago – Mart Plaza in the Wolf Point Ballroom on the 15th floor.
Main topics at the event will be job creation, small business tax credits, and more.
The River North Business Association connects local businesses to promote communication, marketing, and advocacy. This luncheon is a great opportunity to meet other businesses and network!
The event begins at 11:30 a.m. and will conclude at 1:30 p.m. Register online by clicking here. Each ticket is $60.
Tags: Chicago Office of Tourism, Chicago Tourism, Downtown Chicago, Industry Events, Marketing, River North Business Association
Congrats Chicago!
Posted on July 9th, 2010 by Adam Marks
Let’s hope they are correct. Travel + Leisure magazine just came out with their Worlds Best Awards 2010 readers’ poll. and we did pretty well!
Out of all the cities in the U.S. and Canada to visit, we were selected as Number 4 (behind NYC, San Francisco, and Charleson SC).
And to top even that, the top-ranked large city hotel in North America is none other than our own Trump International Hotel & Tower.
Go Chi-Town! Now you have even more to brag about when you are touring guests through the city.
Tags: Chicago Loop Alliance, Chicago Office of Tourism, Chicago Tourism, Downtown Chicago, Illinois Tourism
Chicago Website Gets a Facelift
Posted on June 1st, 2010 by Adam Marks
Visited www.explorechicago.org lately? It’s a whole new world. Only a week old, this new version of the website is beautiful to look at, and a great new resource for tourism professionals and tourists alike!
Take the time to check out all the new features. Neighborhood profiles abound, as well as tips on where to eat, sleep, and play. If you work for a business within the hospitality industry, check out your listing!
For all those concierges out there, this is a great new resource for you in your work. You can help clients find restaurants by neighborhood or type of food, and printable maps with lots of choices are readily available. Use the trip planner to create detailed itineraries as well!
All of this is just in time for the summer season. Well done Chicago!
Tags: Chicago Office of Tourism, Chicago Tourism, Downtown Chicago, Illinois Tourism
More Developments at McCormick Place
Posted on May 10th, 2010 by Adam Marks
For better or for worse, things are definitely changing at McCormick. In response to decreasing sales, state government is taking steps to reduce costs for exhibitors at McCormick. As reported, exhibitors would not be required to hire union members to setup or take down. They can even do it themselves.
In other news, the management of McCormick will likely be on the way out, replaced by a trustee and a board of directors.
Needless to say, there are a lot of Chicagoans who will be hurting as a result of these changes. Let’s hope that the gamble works and business picks back up. If more people come to McCormick, we all win.
The bill that outlines these changes was approved nearly unaminously on Friday by the senate, and it now goes to the governor. Stay tuned for the latest updates.
Tags: Chicago Office of Tourism, Chicago Tourism, Illinois Tourism, McCormick Place, Trade Show
CP Convention and Trade Show a Success
Posted on April 30th, 2010 by Rebecca Taras
Hundreds of concierge, professionals and professional networkers came out to the Crystal Ballroom at Navy Pier on Tuesday afternoon, for the 9th Annual Concierge Preferred Convention and Tradeshow. The event provided the perfect opportunity for attendees to become immersed in some of the businesses that have become, or remained, extremely popular with locals and visitors alike. About 100 exhibitors represented area restaurants, attractions, retail and service businesses, all of which were handing out generous samples which meant every guest left with a full stomach and a full bag of swag! Most restaurants also paired creative cocktails with their bites, creating an almost party-like atmosphere.
But it was time to get down to business too. The seats were filled for the CP Buzz! sessions that took place throughout the day, which included valuable social media marketing information from Laura Levy of Social Media Beast. Most of the CP team was on-site to chat it up with the attendees too, including President and Publisher Tim O’Malley (pictured below), VP of Sales and Advertising, Jim Gilligan and Director of Content and Editorial, Kelly Williams.
The National Concierge Association held its annual silent auction and raffle, showcasing exciting events, attractions and dining experiences around town. All proceeds went directly to the Chicago Chapter of the NCA. The festivities didn’t end with the trade show at 7 p.m. An after-party took place at Howl at the Moon, where attendees flashed their badges to receive access to an open bar and passed hors d’oeuvres.
A special thanks to all the participating exhibitors and volunteers from the Chicago Office of Tourism Chicago Greeters for making the trade show such a success!
Photos courtesy of Jeff Brown, All Events Photography. To view more photos from the Trade Show, visit Concierge Preferred on Facebook!
Tags: Chicago Office of Tourism, Concierge Preferred, National Concierge Association, Navy Pier, Social Media, Social Media Beast, Trade Show
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