Subject: Choose Chicago Visitor Industry Report - January 2014
From: "Don Welsh" <[email-masked]>
To: <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 29 Jan 2014 15:03:21 -0600

Don's News January To view this email as a web page, click 
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here. 

 
January 2014Issue 34

Dear Chicago Visitor Industry Champion,

Greetings and Happy New Year, I hope the year has gotten off to great start!

I&rsquo;m thrilled to start our newsletter with some very positive news regarding some performances metrics for 2013. Chicago achieved a record breaking hotel performance during 2013 with an occupancy rate of 75.28%.  The city achieved this historic rate even as 275,000 room-nights were added last year, setting the city&rsquo;s annual hotel room supply at a record high. This hotel occupancy surpasses the previous record of 75.18% set in 2007 when Chicago had over 1.9 million fewer room nights available. Hotel room demand saw a gain of 2.3% over 2012, setting an unprecedented record of 9.889 million rooms occupied in 2013. To echo Mayor Emanuel, 2013 was truly a year of records for
 Chicago&rsquo;s visitor industry. 

However, I want to assure you that we all realize that that was last year, and we have eagerly jumped into 2014. Strategies implemented to increase tourism have been highly successful; therefore prompting Mayor Emanuel to announce late last week that he was increasing Choose Chicago&rsquo;s goal of attracting 50 million visitors by 2020 to 55 million visitors by this same year. This achievement will result in 30,000 additional jobs in the tourism industry, and hundreds of millions of dollars in additional revenue for the city. We remain confident that we will continue to aggressively grow Chicago&rsquo;s tourism platform, and stand at the ready to meet this new goal of 55 million annual
 visitors with your support.

The Mayor also announced two major initiatives under the Elevate Chicago banner that will embody globally-focused, iconic events being developed for Chicago. First, the city will launch an international competition to light the city at night, taking entries from artists, architects, planners and designers from around the world.

Secondly, the Mayor announced the final plans for a citywide Chinese New Year celebration, set to kick off this weekend throughout Chicago.  I would like to take this opportunity to recognize and thank Melissa Cherry, Vice President of Cultural Tourism & Neighborhoods for her tireless efforts and collaboration with multiple organizations to bring this celebration to life. The most ceremonious and celebrated festivals in Chinese culture will run from January 31 through February 14 from the downtown Loop to Chinatown and communities across the city. The goal is to expand this celebration year over year, and have it grow to become the largest celebration of the Chinese New Year in North
 America. This is a wonderful way to expand the celebrations from Chinatown to our entire Chicago community. A very special thank you to Tom Ricketts and the Chicago CUBS for sponsoring what is sure to be a spectacular fireworks display at Navy Pier this Saturday evening following the Chinese New Year Celebration with Redmoon Theatre inside the Navy Pier Grand Ballroom from 6-7:30PM. You may view a list of citywide Chinese New Year activities at 
http://www.choosechicago.com/chinesenewyear 
www.choosechicago.com/chinesenewyear .

Chinese visitors to Chicago continue to significantly grow.  Just last month I joined Mayor Emanuel in Beijing, where the Mayor announced the opening of a fourth China office in Chengdu. This office is aimed at attracting the Chinese market in southwestern China, a region in which any U.S. city has yet to have a presence. We look forward to sharing our efforts and results throughout the year.

Chicago Restaurant Week 2014 - Following another sold-out First Bites Bash, the seventh annual Chicago Restaurant Week is now underway. I would like to thank James Beard Award-Winning Chef Paul Kahan for hosting this year&rsquo;s First Bites Bash, from which a total of $15,000 benefitted two local charities chosen by Chef Kahan, Gilda&rsquo;s Club Chicago and Pilot Light. Special thanks to our beverage partners Goose Island and Terlato Wines for providing such wonderful Chicago-based beer and wine tastings. Chicago Restaurant Week runs through February 6 with prix fixe menus starting at $22 for lunch and $33 and/or $44 for dinner (excluding beverages, tax and gratuity). Be sure to join in
 our annual culinary celebration and find a full listing of our 300 participating restaurants at 
http://www.eatitupchicago.com 
www.eatitupchicago.com . Bon appetit!

http://www.ilgovconference.com/ilgovsite/ 
The Governor&rsquo;s Conference on Travel and Tourism  returns next week. This unparalleled opportunity to get a glimpse into all of the great work happening throughout Illinois will take place at the Palmer House Hilton Chicago February 3-5, and registration is still open. Don&rsquo;t delay!  A full schedule of events and registration information is available 
http://www.ilgovconference.com/ilgovsite/ 
here .

IPW 2014 - With IPW just 65 days away, I can assure you that exciting plans are well underway. Our first IPW newsletter, the IPW Insider, was distributed earlier this month to educate you, our stakeholders, and I hope you found it informative. With the goal of elevating Chicago from the 9th most visited U.S. destination for international travelers to among the top 5, getting involved in supporting Chicago&rsquo;s IPW effort is essential. The immediate economic impact of IPW in the 3-5 years following is $350-$400 million, creating new jobs, tax revenue and significant consumer spending for Chicago&rsquo;s economy. To learn more about sponsorship opportunities, click 
http://www.choosechicago.com/includes/content/docs/media/IPWSponsorship.pdf 
here  or contact Nina Winston, Choose Chicago&rsquo;s Vice President of Strategic Partnerships at 
mailto:[email-masked] 
[email-masked]  or 312-567-8561.

Hotel Performance/Market Share: As noted above, we achieved record hotel performance in 2013! December 2013 reflected record levels of room demand in both Leisure and Group segments.  Topping 500,000 room nights for the first time in history, leisure room demand gained 4.3% over December 2012 to 508,995 room nights.  Group room demand was a record 195,286, a gain of 67% from the prior year and significantly influenced by the shift of RSNA from November to December.  Overall room demand totaled 717,383 room nights, a gain of 16.3%, and a significant influence on Chicago&rsquo;s record setting performance year.  Despite price pressures in the latter half of the year, Average Daily Rate (ADR)
 advanced in all segments when compared to 2012 levels.  Leisure ADR grew 8.6% to $153.70, Group ADR advanced 34.5% to $194.41, and Contract ADR advanced 9.9% to $111.50.  Overall ADR was $164.01, an increase of 16% and the second highest December ADR on record.

The strong showing in ADR translated into a record setting $117.7 million in hotel tax revenue, over $27 million more than the previous peak in 2008.  December hotel revenue from the group segment grew 125%, again largely due to RSNA, and represented the first time in four years that positive revenue growth in this segment has occurred. Even with 48,000 more room nights available in December 2013 than in December 2012, occupancy rates reflected the positive increase in room demand.  Leisure occupancy was flat at 44.6%; however, Group occupancy jumped 60.0% to 17.1% (again supported by RSNA).  Overall occupancy reached a record December of 62.8%, a gain of 11.5%.  With additional hotels
 coming on line in 2014, the focus will be on accelerating room demand to keep pace with new supply growth.

Choose Chicago Sales Production - In the month of December 2013, Choose Chicago booked the following for future years:

	- 552,268 room nights 
	- 398,807 attendees 
	- Over $752.8 million inestimated delegate expenditure.
Convention Sales - Congratulations to the 
http://www.mla.org/convention 
MLA Annual Convention  on a successful conference held earlier this month from January 9th to the 12th.

Partnership - 2013 was an incredibly successful year for our Partnership team. We added 337 new partners, a 127% increase from 148 in 2012. February of last year saw the launch of our new and improved Choose Chicago Partnership Program, which included customizable benefits packages, innovative networking, educational events, new advocacy initiatives and bold marketing opportunities. This increase is due in large part to our new partnership model, and we&rsquo;re thrilled to see such a positive response amongst the Chicago community.

Advocacy - The Choose Chicago Public Policy team is proud to announce the launch of its new website and Choose Chicago Champions advocacy program. The site, which you can visit by going to 
http://www.choosechicago.com/advocacy 
www.choosechicago.com/advocacy , will provide the tools that you need to communicate to your elected official the importance of the visitor industry. Thanks to Jack Johnson for his passionate commitment to this project.

I would like to thank the 
http://www.choosechicago.com/includes/content/images/media/PCMA-Boston.jpg 
hundreds of ambassadors that that represented  Chicago at PCMA&rsquo;s annual conference this month in Boston. A special thank you to Chef Thai Dang of the award-winning Embeya, and Chef Meredith Patterson, Sous Chef of Spiaggia, who also joined us to represent Chicago&rsquo;s fantastic culinary scene and help deliver nothing short of an incredibly successful closing luncheon.  For those of you who were not with us, trust me when I tell you that we produced, hands down, amazing live entertainment - from our very own 
http://www.choosechicago.com/includes/content/docs/media/DSC_0401.jpg 
David Causton and the Beatleleles , a unique compilation of ukulele players performing music from the Beatles.  We look forward to hosting PCMA 2015 in Chicago next year, and we were thrilled to host PCMA Boston&rsquo;s closing lunch with true Chicago entertainment and cuisine.

Cultural Tourism - The Cultural Tourism team is working with 90 participating productions to date for the second annual 
http://www.choosechicago.com/things-to-do/arts-culture-and-entertainment/chicago-theatre-week/ 
Chicago Theatre Week  (CTW), a handful of which have already sold out. CTW will run from February 11-16, and allow consumers to enjoy one of these productions for as little as $15. This is a fantastic opportunity to showcase our city as the current theatre capital of America!

The weather may be convincing us otherwise, but festival season is only a few months away. The City of Chicago&rsquo;s Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events has released the official 
http://www.cityofchicago.org/city/en/depts/dca/supp_info/festival_events_dates.html 
schedule  for 2014 Festivals and Events. 

Airport & Industry Updates - Both O&rsquo;Hare International Airport and Midway Airport are continuing to offer more flights each year. According to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the total number of annual flight operations during 2013 at both Chicago airports surpassed those in r 2012. O&rsquo;Hare, the second busiest airport in the world, had a total of 883,287 flight operations in 2013, an unprecedented increase of .6 % from 2012. Midway had 252,126 total flight operations, which represented a .9% increase over 2012.

McCormick Place 
http://www.choosechicago.com/articles/view/McCormick-Place-Announces-Significant-Internet-and-Wi-Fi-Upgrades-for-Nation-s-Largest-Convention-Center/1134/ 
announced  this month that state-of-the-art internet and Wi-Fi upgrades are now complete throughout the convention center to keep the convention facility an industry leader by providing customers with first-rate Internet services. This includes high-density Wi-Fi services and a significant variety of new wired and wireless internet options supported by the McCormick Place dedicated in-house team.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel formally introduced 
http://cts.vresp.com/c/?WagstaffWorldwide/fa790efbd1/4115ae65bb/f3e288c83d 
Kinzie Hotel  as Chicago&rsquo;s newest addition to the River North neighborhood on January 22. Formerly the Amalfi Hotel, the Kinzie Hotel embraces the energy and adventure of Chicago living, seeking to share it with visitors, and committed to its mantra &ldquo;Chicago Starts Here.&rdquo; 

Another warm welcome to 
http://www.godfreyhotelchicago.com/default-en.html 
The Godfrey Hotel Chicago , opening February 1 in River North. Also opening February 1, the 
http://www.godfreyhotelchicago.com/rooftop-lounge/default-en.html 
I|O Urban Roofscape  on the fourth floor will be an indoor-outdoor lounge with unobstructed views of our skyline and LaSalle Street below. Welcome to the neighborhood, Godfrey!

Chicago In The News

	- 
http://www.choosechicago.com/includes/content/docs/media/ENVOYAGE-CHICAGO.pdf 
9 Cocinas en Chicago  - &ldquo;9 Kitchens in Chicago&rdquo; (Travesias Magazine, Mexico - October 2013)
	- 
http://www.choosechicago.com/includes/content/docs/media/China---International-Finance-News.pdf 
Choose Chicago is the first U.S. destination in Guanghzhou   (International Finance News, Nov. 18, 2013)
	- 
http://v.gdtv.cn/html/ItemId86/2013-12-07/107294.html 
Promotion of Chicago Tourism in Guangdong  (GDTV &ldquo;Face Time&rdquo; Interview with Don Welsh, China - December 2013)
	- 
http://www.cntraveler.com/daily-traveler/2013/12/photos-beautiful-ice-skating-rinks-around-the-world 
10 Ice-Skating Rinks With A View  (Conde Nas Traveler - December 2013)
	- 
http://www.turistampa.com/site/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3013:excelente-la-corriente-turistica-de-mexicanos-a-chicago-desde-que-abrio-la-oficina-en-mexico&catid=24:generales&Itemid=8 
Excelente la Corriente Turistica de Mexicanos a Chicago Desde que Abrio la Oficina en Mexico  - &ldquo;Excellent tourism flow from Mexico to Chicago since the office opened in Mexico&rdquo; (Turistampa Mexico -December 2013) 
	- 
http://www.choosechicago.com/includes/content/docs/media/EDGE_Jan2014.pdf 
Where To Go In 2014  (EDGE, New York City - January 2014)
	- 
Chicago Lures Chinese Tourists  (China Daily, China - January 9, 2014)  
Awards and Accolades 

With recent AAA five-diamond ratings made public earlier this month, we are proud to announce that 
http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/20140117/BLOGS09/140119828?template=mobile&X-IgnoreUserAgent=1 
Chicago has now tied New York City in number of AAA Five-diamond restaurants . Seven of our very own Chicago restaurants earned this prestigious rating, including Acadia, Alinea, Arun&rsquo;s, Everest, Grace, Sixteen, and Tru, and 15 restaurants were awarded the four-diamond rating. New additions to this list are Masaki and Pelago Ristorante.

Chicago was awarded the #1 city in Movie Maker Magazine&rsquo;s 
http://www.moviemaker.com/articles/best-places-to-live-and-work-as-a-moviemaker-in-2014-top-big-cities-1-chicago/ 
Top Ten Film Cities , after Chicago had a &ldquo;red-hot&rdquo; year in 2012 and set a city record with 235 projects filmed here and $184 million in budgetary spending.  Our city&rsquo;s &ldquo;sandy beaches, city streets, parks, public art and skyscrapers&rdquo; make Chicago an undeniable choice for Movie Maker Magazine&rsquo;s top film city.

Save The Date

	- 
http://www.chicagoautoshow.com/ 
Chicago Auto Show : February 8-17, 2014 (McCormick Place)
	- 
http://www.chicagoflower.com/ 
Chicago Flower & Garden Show:  March 15-23, 2014 (Navy Pier)
	- 
http://www.choosechicago.com/event/St-Patricks-Day-ParadeRiver-Dyeing/20254/ 
St. Patrick&rsquo;s Day Parade and River Dyeing : March 15, 2014 
	- Chicago Golf Classic: July 15, 2014 (Cog Hill & Country Club)
The 
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/annual-meeting-of-partnership-tickets-9318420647 
Choose Chicago Annual Meeting of Partnership  will take place on February 27, 2014 at 7:30AM in the McCormick Place West Building&rsquo;s Skyline Ballroom. We invite you to check-in and network with all of our partners over breakfast from 7:30-8:30AM before our 8:45AM program and optional 10:30AM breakout sessions. Thank you to the continued generous support from longtime sponsors, PSAV and American Airlines! If you have not yet registered, please do so 
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/annual-meeting-of-partnership-tickets-9318420647 
here .  We look forward to seeing you!

Today, Choose Chicago and the Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE) unveiled the first ever strategy in support of the Chicago Cultural Plan to position Chicago as a global cultural destination. This groundbreaking strategy was developed to better position Chicago as a premier global cultural destination.  The Chicago Cultural Plan, released by DCASE in October 2012, included a number of initiatives designed to grow and position the city as an even more prominent global cultural destination and help differentiate cultural opportunities in Chicago from other destinations.  Congratulations to Melissa Cherry and her team for spearheading this incredibly important initiative!

It goes without saying that 2014 will be another exciting year and IPW is right around the corner. We look forward to seeing you at our annual meeting.

Thank you for your continued support,

Don Welsh 

President and CEO

To access the reports, log into the Partner Extranet at 
http://www.choosechicago.com/partners/login 
choosechicago.com/partners/login .
TOURISM MATTERS FOR CHICAGO
132,000 Jobs$12.7 Billion in Direct Spending$805.6 Million in Tax Revenue

SIGNIFICANT SALES BOOKINGS IN DECEMBER 2013
GROUP DATE
ESTIMATED
ATTENDANCE
ROOM-NIGHTS ESTIMATED
EXPENDITURE
International Dairy Foods Association / International Dairy ShowSEP 20155,0005,124$8,850,000.00 
National Confectioners Association / NCA's 2017 Sweets and Snacks ExpoMAY 201718,00010,720$28,008,000.00 
Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages, Inc. / TESOL 2018 International Convention & English Language ExpoMAR 20187,5009,825$11,947,500.00 
National Confectioners Association / NCA's 2018 Sweets and Snacks ExpoMAY 201818,00010,720$28,674,000.00 
Radiological Society of North America / RSNA 2018 Annual MeetingNOV 201860,000116,060$153,540,000.00 
Material Handling Industry / ProMat 2019 & Automate 2019APR 201934,08519,978$66,329,410.00 
Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International / AUVSI's Unmanned Systems 2019APR 20196,00016,883$15,720,000.00 
National Confectioners Association / NCA's 2019 Sweets and Snacks ExpoMAY 201918,00010,720$29,358,000.00 
American Health Information Management Association / AHIMA Annual Convention 2019SEP 20195,00010,495$9,730,000.00 
American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry / AACAP 2019 Annual MeetingOCT 20195,0006,479$10,415,000.00 
American College of Healthcare Executives / ACHE 2020 Congress on Healthcare LeadershipMAR 20205,0007,825$9,005,000.00 
National School Boards Association / 2020 Annual National ConferenceAPR 20207,00023,760$18,781,000.00 
National Confectioners Association / NCA's 2020 Sweets and Snacks ExpoMAY 202018,00010,720$30,060,000.00 
Institute of Food Technologists / IFT Annual Meeting & Food Expo 2020JUL 202023,50025,090$39,245,000.00 
National Confectioners Association / NCA's 2021 Sweets and Snacks ExpoMAY 202118,00010,720$30,780,000.00 
American Association of Neurological Surgeons / AANS 2024 Annual MeetingMAY 20245,00012,992$8,755,000.00 
ASIS International / ASIS International (American Society for Industrial Security International) 2025 Annual Seminar & ExhibitsSEP 202528,00040,350$58,520,000.00 

SALES TEAM ROOM-NIGHT PRODUCTION BY VENUE AS OF DECEMBER 31, 2013
 YEAR201320142015201620172018201920202021TOTALS
McCormick Place1,218,7581,173,7891,054,804998,8441,003,888975,768721,586385,002262,0527,794,491
In-House549,117562,500441,724228,683121,370106,51649,46319,6294,6602,083,662
TOTALS1,767,8751,736,2891,496,5281,227,5271,125,2581,082,284771,049404,631266,7129,878,153

REPRESENTATION AT INDUSTRY EVENTS 
EVENT NAMELOCATIONMONTH
Illinois Governor's Conference on TourismChicagoFEB
RSAA Annual SummitDCFEB
RCMASacramentoFEB
North American Journeys Summit WestLos AngelesFEB
Global Medical Meetings SummitPhilidelphiaFEB
Destinations Showcase DCDCFEB
National Tour AssociationLos AngelesFEB
Choose Chicago Annual Meeting of MembershipChicagoFEB

MAJOR GROUPS MEETING IN FEBRUARY 2014
GROUPDATESESTIMATED ATTENDANCEESTIMATED EXPENDITURE
Chicago Collective - Mens Wear2/2-4/20142,000$2.4 million
American Bar Association2/5-11/20144,000$7.4 million
Model United Nations2/6-9/20141,500$2.3 million
College Art Association2/21-15/20144,000$6.3 million
American Association for the Advancement of Science2/12-17/20148,000$14.8 million
Chicago Dental Society2/20-22/201430,000$43.5 million

HOTEL PERFORMANCE - DECEMBER 2013
UNITED STATESOCCUPANCYADRRevPAR
This Year50.2%$108.77 $54.65 
Last Year48.9%$104.70 $51.22 
Percent Change2.7%3.9%6.7%
2013 YTD62.3%$110.35 $68.69 
2013 YTD Percent Change1.5%3.9%5.4%
CHICAGO, IL (METRO)OCCUPANCYADRRevPAR
This Year53.7%$116.37 $62.48 
 48.5%$104.35 $50.61 
Percent Change10.7%11.5%23.5%
2013 YTD67.4%$129.39 $87.22 
2013 YTD Percent Change1.0%3.3%4.4%
CHICAGO CENTRAL 

BUSINESS DISTRICTOCCUPANCYADRRevPAR
This Year62.8%$164.01 $103.02 
Last Year56.4%$141.34 $79.64 
Percent Change11.5%16.0%29.3%
2013 YTD75.3%$191.96 $144.51 
2013 YTD Percent Change0.2%2.6%2.7%

Source: STR

Occupancy: Rooms sold divided by rooms available multiplied by 100. Expressed as a percentage of rooms occupied.
Average Daily Rate (ADR): Room revenue divided by rooms sold.
Revenue Per Available Room (RevPAR): Room revenue divided by rooms available.
CHICAGO AND COMPETITIVE CITY PERFORMANCE SUMMARY

YTD 
DECEMBER 2013 VS. DECEMBER 2012
CHICAGO CBDOCCUPANCYADRRevPARSUPPLY REVENUE
201375.3$191.96$144.5113,135,822$1.9 Billion
201275.2$187.18$140.6812,861,166$1.8 Billion
Percent Change0.2%2.6%2.7%2.1%4.9%
ATLANTAOCCUPANCYADRRevPARSUPPLY REVENUE
201364.5$137.59$88.785,545,541$492.3 Million
201264.0$135.48$86.725,525,814$479.2 Million
Percent Change0.8%1.6%2.4%0.4%2.7%
NEW YORKOCCUPANCYADRRevPARSUPPLY REVENUE
201386.3$277.21$239.231,929,675$7.6 Billion
201285.8$268.93$230.731,116,867$7.2 Billion
Percent Change0.6%3.1%3.7%2.6%6.4%
NEW ORLEANSOCCUPANCYADRRevPARSUPPLY REVENUE
201369.4$167.89$116.488,774,601$1.0 Billion
201269.3$155.89$107.998,720,980$941.7 Million
Percent Change0.1%7.7%7.9%0.6%8.5%
SAN FRANCISCOOCCUPANCYADRRevPARSUPPLY REVENUE
201384.1$209.47$176.1112,204,926$2.1 Billion
201281.2$191.08$155.2212,263,671$1.9 Billion
Percent Change3.5%9.6%13.5%-0.5%12.9%

PR RESULTS
YEAR MONTH AD VALUE
2013JANUARY-DECEMBER$646.7 million

choosechicago.com RESULTS THROUGH DECEMBER 2013
TIMEFRAME VISITS
PAGEVIEWS
PAGES/VISIT AVG. TIME ON SITE
December 1-31293,387978,7743.3400:03:58
2013 YTD4,215,24815,110,1613.5800:04:21

   
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