Navigating a sharp decline in international travel to the U.S. and other headwinds, Chicago saw an increase in tourism last year, with 56.8 million visitors spending a record $21.5 billion in the Windy City, according to data released Thursday by Choose Chicago.
The city welcomed nearly 1.5 million more visitors than in 2024 as it continues to climb back toward pre-pandemic levels, with domestic tourism up across the board.
“Despite international declines, we were still able to report record-breaking spending and an increase in overall visitation,” said Kristen Reynolds, Choose Chicago’s president and CEO. “We’re working hard to shift and be nimble and make sure that we’re doing everything we can to attract the visitors who do seek out Chicago right now.”
Tourism was boosted by a number of major events last year, including Beyoncé’s three sold-out “Cowboy Carter” shows at Soldier Field, Lollapalooza and the NASCAR Chicago Street Race, which is on a one-year hiatus this summer.
But Chicago also dealt with some challenges in 2025, including a nationwide 5.5% decline in inbound international visits, according to the U.S. Travel Association. The decline was primarily driven by a reduction in Canadian visitors, the largest segment of international travel to the U.S. and Chicago.
Reflective of those industrywide trends, there were 1.9 million international visitors to Chicago last year, an 8% decline, according to Choose Chicago, the city’s official destination marketing organization. In 2024, Chicago topped 2 million international visitors for the first time in the post-pandemic travel landscape.
“The biggest decline we saw, over 20%, was in Canada,” Reynolds said.
The city also grappled with the surreal street scenes from Operation Midway Blitz, the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement action in the Chicago area last fall, which likely presented a less-than-welcoming image to prospective visitors.
“Anytime you have negative narratives like that, that are misperceptions of our destination, it’s not helpful,” Reynolds said. “It’s very difficult to measure. You don’t know who’s not calling or coming because of those misperceptions.”
Hotels had some big weekends tied to major events, but showed only modest increases in revenue and occupancy throughout 2025.
Chicago hotel revenue hit $2.9 billion in 2025, up from $2.8 billion the previous year, according to Choose Chicago data. Hotel occupancy was at 69.1% for the year, up 1.5% over 2024.
“While we celebrate recent growth, Chicago visitation numbers lag pre-pandemic levels and hotels continue to face numerous challenges in the form of higher operating costs, growing property taxes and overburdensome regulations,” Michael Jacobson, president and CEO of the Illinois Hotel & Lodging Association, said in a news release Thursday.
The biggest area of growth for Chicago tourism in 2025 was the 40.7 million domestic leisure visitors, up 4.8% year-over-year, according to Choose Chicago. Millennials represented the largest segment of that category, accounting for 37% of domestic leisure travelers.
Top tourism activities included dining, shopping, sightseeing and visiting museums or art exhibits, with tourism spending at a record $21.5 billion last year, up 2.7%, according to Choose Chicago.
Launched in 2012 under then-Mayor Rahm Emanuel, Choose Chicago initially set a goal of 55 million visitors a year by 2020, touting tourism as an economic boon and job creator. Chicago first crossed that threshold in 2017 and set a record at 61 million visitors in 2019. But visits fell to 16 million in 2020 at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, and it took four years to get back to Emanuel’s original target.
While the city attracted nearly 57 million visitors in 2025, it has yet to claw back to pre-pandemic levels.
Hoping to increase international visitation, Choose Chicago announced a new partnership Thursday with Brand USA to create a video chronicling the city’s history as the birthplace of the skyscraper for its new website, AmericaTheBeautiful.com.
“Chicago is one of four cities that they’ve selected that are going to be in four different key international markets with a whole new campaign, really promoting Chicago’s skyline as the home of the skyscraper,” Reynolds said.
Halfway through 2026, total Chicago tourism numbers are already outpacing last year, Reynolds said.
The Pokémon Go Fest and the Chicago Blues Festival earlier this month contributed to a blowout weekend, with the second-most hotel rooms filled on Friday and Saturday in the city’s history, according to Choose Chicago.
The Obama Presidential Center opening June 18 also bodes well for tourism, both in burnishing the city’s image and creating a new attraction to draw domestic and international visitors to Chicago, Reynolds said.
“That’s a huge win for us, and not only the attraction itself, the fact that it’s located on the South Side really gives people a different area of the city to explore,” Reynolds said.
