People will come.
From the movie ”Field of Dreams”
At least, that`s the hope of towns across Du Page County that are opening up new visitor centers.
They are jockeying to get a share of the industry touted to be a moneymaker of the future: tourism.
It may be hard for some longtime residents to think of Du Page as a tourist mecca, but others are taking it seriously, said Diana Thomure, executive director of the Du Page Convention and Visitors Bureau.
”It`s a fact that tourism will be the No. 1 industry worldwide by the year 2000,” she said.
Even now, according to the state of Illinois:
– The average traveler spends $300 to $650 on a trip, returning $40 to $85 of that back in taxes.
– Illinois ranks 7th nationally in terms of money spent here by visitors and is working on promoting tourism as an even bigger industry.
– Two-thirds of all Illinois visitor dollars are spent in the Chicago area.
– Chicago is the No. 1 trade show host.
Du Page communities want a piece of this economic action.
Take little Carol Stream, for example, at the northern end of the county with lots of industry, some nice residential neighborhoods and only one hotel. The village board there just approved opening a visitor`s office at the local Holiday Inn to help draw more people to town, using $40,000 of the $120,000 it collects in hotel-motel taxes to fund it, said Greg Bielawski, village manager.
”We hope to attract tourists and those family members of business associates that are here on business and to be able to provide programs of interest to them,” he said.
Lisle, with several large hotels, is studying opening a visitor`s center, too. ”Obviously the competition for the hotel-motel customer is key,” said Carl Doerr, village manager.
Doerr may be referring to competition with neighboring Naperville, which already has a visitor`s office at its local chamber of commerce.
Jack Romine, executive director there, agrees that communities are going to be vying with one another to reap the rewards of tourist dollars.
”We`re in competition with Oak Brook and Schaumburg,” he said. ”We expect to be in competition with Itasca and Woodridge for conferences. If any one of these communities doesn`t do something, they will not get their fair share.”
”With the entire tourism industry becoming more competitive, the chamber decided to make a more aggressive approach to make Naperville a more viable destination, specifically for group travel, because they utilize the most sleeping rooms,” said Heather Snowden, conference development coordinator at the Naperville Chamber of Commerce.
Right now many of these communities already are receiving the benefits of hotel-motel taxes instituted a few years ago.
For instance, Naperville estimates it will collect $350,000 this year, and Lisle expects to earn $450,000.
For Naperville, it is especially sweet tax money, because the town can deposit the money directly into its general fund, with no strings attached on how to spend it. That`s because the town, with a population greater than 25,000, qualifies to be a home-rule community. According to interpretations of state law, home-rule communities can use money derived from hotel-motel tax as they please.
Lisle, on the other hand, with a smaller population under 25,000, does not qualify to be a home-rule community; so the town is restricted by state law to returning the money it receives from hotel-motel taxes back into promotional type activities. In Lisle`s case, they use it to host an annual festival, parade and fireworks, among other things.
In addition, Westmont, also not home-rule, is restricted on how it can spend the $90,000 it collects in hotel-motel taxes. In fact, some towns with generous revenue from hotel-motel taxes may be strained to find ways to put it back into promotional activities, said Raymond Botch, Westmont village manager.
”I think that there could be a problem down the road if we do not become home rule or if the legislature doesn`t change the laws,” he said.
State Rep. Mary Lou Cowlishaw, (R-Naperville) said she knows of no plans to change the law at this time, nor has she heard any complaints from communities on the restrictions for spending hotel-motel taxes.
”There has been some concern about the uses for hotel-motel taxes, and that raises another fundamental question,” she said. ”If they`re having trouble spending the tax, maybe they should think of abolishing it, or decreasing it. This might be good for the business climate. There`s no purpose in levying a tax you have no use for. But the minute the state authorizes anyone to use a tax, you can bet your life they`ll do it.”
Tourism as an industry, however, still would be good for the county, she said.
”We don`t have a football or baseball stadium. Those aren`t viable for Du Page, but we have some things here that are outstanding tourist
attractions, and it seems to me as though we could increase considerably the amount of tourism Du Page enjoys if we would give a little more attention to promoting these,” she said.
Carol Stream would make her proud. That town is promoting all sorts of things in Du Page in order to help fill its hotel rooms.
”We have lots of reasonably close attractions,” said Bielawksi. ”We`re located near forest preserves, Cantigny, the Billy Graham Museum, Wheaton College, the Du Page County Historical Museum, Blackberry Farm and a number of other small museums.”
In addition to sights to see, said Snowden, Du Page communities promise a safe environment. ”Naperville is among the top 10 safest communities for its size in the nation,” she said.
Naperville Mayor Margaret Price is cautious, however, about trying to attract large crowds to the town: ”It`s good for the businesses, but there`s a judgment call on what you want to come in if it`s going to inconvenience the people who live here. You want to stimulate the hotel industry, but you don`t want groups to come in and overwhelm our facilities.”
Still, some communities would love to have the visitors and the revenue they bring, including West Chicago, which can`t get in the act too soon. That town has approved a hotel-motel tax but hasn`t collected any money yet, said Don Foster, city manager.
First, he said, they need to get a hotel.
