{"id":45983,"date":"2026-09-04T08:16:35","date_gmt":"2026-09-04T13:16:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/?p=45983"},"modified":"2026-09-04T08:25:57","modified_gmt":"2026-09-04T13:25:57","slug":"travelers-flocked-to-the-middle-of-everything-last-year-generating-over-88-billion-in-economic-impact","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/local-news\/45983-travelers-flocked-to-the-middle-of-everything-last-year-generating-over-88-billion-in-economic-impact\/","title":{"rendered":"Travelers Flocked to &#8216;the Middle of Everything&#8217; Last Year, Generating Over $88 Billion in Economic Impact"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"pdfprnt-buttons pdfprnt-buttons-post pdfprnt-top-right\"><a href=\"javascript: window.print()\" class=\"pdfprnt-button pdfprnt-button-print\" target=\"_self\" ><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/wp-content\/plugins\/pdf-print\/images\/print.png\" alt=\"image_print\" title=\"Print Content\" \/><span class=\"pdfprnt-button-title pdfprnt-button-print-title\">Print<\/span><\/a><\/div><h4><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The state welcomed 115 million visitors who spent over $50 billion<\/span><\/i><\/h4>\n<p>Stickers advertise tourism attractions in southern Illinois (Medill Illinois News Bureau photo by Sonya Dymova)<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">By MAGGIE DOUGHERTY <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Capitol News Illinois <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><a href=\"mailto:mdougherty@capitolnewsillinois.com\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">mdougherty@capitolnewsillinois.com<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Article Summary<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Illinois had a good year for tourism in 2025, with over 115 million visitors spending over $50 billion \u2014 breaking past records.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The total economic impact of tourism was up to $88 billion, fueled in part by the state\u2019s \u2018Middle of Everything\u2019 campaign.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The state\u2019s Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity announced it is expanding its focus on outdoor recreation activities through a dedicated unit within its tourism office.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This summary was written by the reporters and editors who worked on this story.<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">CHICAGO \u2014 Illinois tourism reached new peaks last year, breaking records on visitor spending and generating over $88 billion in total economic impact, the state announced.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The growth was driven by around 115 million domestic and international tourists, who spent $50.2 billion while traveling in Illinois \u2014 an increase of 3.5% from the year before, and marking the first time the state has surpassed the $50 billion threshold for visitor spending.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&#8220;We\u2019re in the Middle of Everything and there&#8217;s something here for everyone \u2014 from the beaches of Lake Michigan to the rolling prairies of Southern Illinois,\u201d said Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton. \u201cIllinois has a rich history, culture, and natural beauty and we\u2019re excited to welcome people from near and far to enjoy it all.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Read more: <\/b><a href=\"https:\/\/capitolnewsillinois.com\/news\/hidden-gem-growing-number-of-visitors-discovering-southern-illinois-as-travel-destination\/\"><b>\u2018Hidden gem\u2019: Growing number of visitors discovering southern Illinois as travel destination<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The spending also produced nearly $5 billion in direct state and local tax revenues for Illinois communities and $372 million in hotel tax revenue.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">According to a news release from the governor\u2019s office, the state\u2019s \u2018Middle of Everything\u2019 tourism campaign helped generate an additional 2.8 million trips and $904 million in visitor spending last year.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Illinois\u2019 tourism industry was also supported by over $3.3 million in state grants in fiscal year 2025, helping to promote projects like the state\u2019s <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/capitolnewsillinois.com\/news\/more-than-just-a-road-illinois-communities-celebrate-route-66s-centennial\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Route 66 centennial celebrations<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/capitolnewsillinois.com\/news\/illinois-unveils-plans-to-celebrate-250-years-of-american-independence\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Illinois America 250<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> campaign.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Read more: <\/b><a href=\"https:\/\/capitolnewsillinois.com\/news\/illinois-unveils-plans-to-celebrate-250-years-of-american-independence\/\"><b>Illinois unveils plans to celebrate 250 years of American independence<\/b><\/a><b> | <\/b><a href=\"https:\/\/capitolnewsillinois.com\/news\/more-than-just-a-road-illinois-communities-celebrate-route-66s-centennial\/\"><b>\u2018More than just a road\u2019: Illinois communities celebrate Route 66\u2019s centennial<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The state\u2019s Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity says it is expanding its focus on outdoor recreation activities with a dedicated unit within its tourism office.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Outdoor recreation activities have been the primary draw for tourism to <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/capitolnewsillinois.com\/news\/hidden-gem-growing-number-of-visitors-discovering-southern-illinois-as-travel-destination\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">the southern part of the state<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in recent years, with visitors taking advantage of hiking, cycling, rock climbing, and ziplining in Shawnee National Forest \u2014 and wine tasting at vineyards along five wine trails.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/capitolnewsillinois.com\/\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Capitol News Illinois<\/span><\/i><\/a><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service that distributes state Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The state welcomed 115 million visitors who spent over $50 billion Stickers advertise tourism attractions in southern Illinois (Medill Illinois News Bureau photo by Sonya Dymova) By MAGGIE DOUGHERTY Capitol [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":45984,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":"","_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-45983","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Travelers Flocked to &#039;the Middle of Everything&#039; Last Year, Generating Over $88 Billion in Economic Impact - Effingham&#039;s News and Sports Leader, 979XFM and KJ Country 102.3<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Effingham&#039;s News and Sports Leader\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/local-news\/45983-travelers-flocked-to-the-middle-of-everything-last-year-generating-over-88-billion-in-economic-impact\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Travelers Flocked to &#039;the Middle of Everything&#039; 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