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Just 10 days before Chicago learns whether it will win the crown jewel of tourist draws, Mayor Richard M. Daley and Gov. Pat Quinn were touting tourism as one of Illinois’ and Chicago’s biggest assets.
More than 45 million domestic and international tourists visited Chicago in 2008 and spent $11.8 billion, according to figures from the Travel Industry Assn. of America.
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I don't know if it is just me, but does anyone else really get annoyed by tourists in the city?
Well, aren't most of the people living on the North Side technically tourists? I.e. they're here for a few years to work and then will pass on to some place else? I certainly qualify...
I live on the North Side, and it always amazes people that I am born and raised in Chicago. Most people I meet are from Michigan or something.
By the way, this isn't confined to tourists. There are LOTS of Michiganders here due to the non-existant Michigan economy and lack of jobs. Unfortunately Illinois seems to be going the same route.
Eh- I grew up in NYC. If you think the tourists are bad here, go there.
Are there specific sins that torque you off?
Yes - people who extend the hysteria about illegal immigrants to include people from Michigan. Purity is for chem labs; get over it.
I mostly get annoyed when a tourist is taking a picture and you walk along and they get upset for walking in front of their picture. Or it congests foot traffic by gathering large crowds waiting on either side.
I used to feel that way, but now I just shrug it off and smile while I think about the fact that they're just visiting (and have to eventually go back to Omaha or wherever) while we get to live here. It's the height of pathetic, but seeing a lot of tourists around kind of makes me feel cooler :-) And I'll take what I can get.
Crown jewel of tourist draws? Sorry. Wherever the Olympics go, nobody else goes, so historically there is no net gain in tourism. Think about it, if you're organizing a convention or a tour for anything other than the Olympics, why the hell would you come to Chicago when the prices go through the roof?
Just last week there was a story about the American Cancer Society signing a deal to hold their annual conference in Chicago that included concessions to the AMA in the event that Chicago gets the Olympics. So to the AMA at least, Chicago getting the Olympics would be a bad thing to the point that they demanded special clauses addressing the event.
Exactly - Chicago's hotels earn their keep through conventions, of which we have many. That's the day-in-day-out moneymaker for the tourism industry. And if we invested in more and better resources for conventions, we could build that sustainable traffic all year round for decades. Instead, we throw a two-week party that will cause the conventions problems that will at least annoy them, and at worst make them schedule elsewhere.
A commenter over on the Crain's story makes a great point:
Yeah, like, if you have to destroy several parks and build temporary buildings so that people will come, it could end up with a huge long-term cost. Just, uh, theoretically.
I'd like to see the numbers for the actual profit made after you take out the costs of running and maintaining the normal tourist attractions, advertising and everything else needed to draw tourists to here.
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