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Highway welcome centers boost travel, tourism Approximately 477,326 visitors stopped at Illinois' eight centers last year. By Thomas E. Van Hyning The Office of Leisure Research (OLR) in the Department of Recreation at Southern Illinois University-Carbondale recently coordinated a three-week pilot study from Aug. 11-31, 1986, at Illinois' four southernmost highway welcome centers. The purpose of the study was to obtain a profile of out-of-state travel parties visiting or passing through Illinois. National significance of tourism Travel and tourism is the third largest retail industry in the nation behind automotive dealers and food stores. Expenditures for lodging, meals, transportation, recreation and gasoline, among other retail items, totaled $244.5 billion during 1985, according to the U.S. Travel Data Service. These funds generated five million direct jobs in our economy while raising $30.7 billion in tax revenues at the federal ($16.5 billion), state ($10.8 billion) and local ($3.4 billion) levels. This industry ranks as the first, second, or third largest employer in 41 states and in Washington, DC. Our nation's capital, for example, has a $1.5 billion travel and tourism industry, second only to the federal government. States are cognizant of tourism's role in creating jobs, and they are allocating more resources to promote tourism. Some $216 million was allocated to state travel budgets in fiscal year 1986, with Illinois' $15.5 million heading the list. Highway welcome centers Highway welcome or visitor information centers are a vital cog in the travel and tourism industry. There are 640 welcome centers in 44 states based on U.S. Travel Data Service figures. California has 250, or almost 40 percent, of these centers as compared to the 390 centers operated by other states. Illinois has eight welcome centers staffed between May and November. Four centers are located in northern Illinois: • Mississippi Rapids off 1-80 east in Rock Island County, • Turtle Creek off 1-90 south in Winnebago County and • two Prairie View centers off 1-57 north and south in Will County. Southern Illinois' centers include Fort Massac off 1-24 north in Massac County, Trail of Tears off 1-57 north in Union County, Rend Lake off 1-57 south in Franklin County, and Cumberland Road off 1-70 west in dark County. The Illinois Department of Commerce and Community Affairs (DCCA) reported that 477,326 visitors stopped at its eight centers last year between May 1 and November 30. Visitors were evenly divided between the northern and southern centers, with 245,583 passersby or 51.4 percent registering at the northern sites and 231,743 or 48.6 percent registering at the southern counterparts. Nearly 1.5 million brochures were distributed to these Prairie State and out-of-state visitors. Southern Illinois pilot study A total of 824 respondents complet- Illinois Parks and Recreation 13 May/June 1987
ed the standard DCCA form covering items such as state of origin and size of travel party. Visitors also completed the OLR instrument encompassing primary destination, age breakdown of group members, travel-related expenditures in Illinois, reasons for stopping at the welcome centers and other items. Most of the travel parties came from midwestern or sunbelt states. The top five states included Missouri (11.4 percent), Texas (9.7 percent), Florida (8.7 percent), Indiana (8.6 percent) and Arkansas (6.2 percent). Tennessee, Michigan, Ohio, California, and Georgia rounded out the top ten. Travel parties comprised a mean of three members with a high proportion of middle-age and elderly travelers. More than half of all travelers were age 45 and over. Another 22.6 percent were in the 45-59 segment, and 29.9 percent were age 60 and over. Visitor data revealed that 40 percent of all travel parties spent nights in Illinois, with the average length of stay 3.8 nights. Accommodations chosen were mainly hotels/motels (136 groups or 43.2 percent) and families/ friends (130 groups or 41.2 percent). A smaller portion, 49 groups or 15.5 percent, stayed at campgrounds. Aggregate mean expenditures for vacationing travel parties were $317. Lodging expenditures averaged $84 per travel party. Vacationing travel parties spent an average of $56 for recreational pursuits including entertainment, sightseeing and sports events.
Illinois was tapped as the primary destination state by 163 or 22.2 percent of the pilot study's travel parties. This is attributable, in part, to 130 groups visiting and staying with family or friends. Other destination states included Missouri, Indiana, Tennessee, Michigan, Florida and Texas. Average overall trip length was 12.7 days per travel party. Reasons given for stopping at welcome centers included a need to obtain an Illinois road map, rest/relax, use the restrooms, and make hotel/motel reservations. Travel assistance Detailed information on southern Illinois' highway welcome centers may be obtained from Bill Hurst, Illinois Office of Tourism, 2309 W. Main, Marion, IL 62959, (618) 997-4371. The contact person for northern Illinois' highway welcome centers is Pat Freitag, Illinois Office of Tourism, 620 E. Adams, Springfield, IL 62701. Phone (217) 782-7139.
Illinois Parks and Recreation 14 May/June 1987 |
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