GREAT RIVERS & ROUTES quarterly

JULY – SEPTEMBER ALTON MADISON 2020 COLLINSVILLE JERSEY EDWARDSVILLE CALHOUN GLEN CARBON MACOUPIN GODFREY MONTGOMERY GRAFTON GREENE COUNTIES

RiversandRoutes.com

facebook.com/RiversandRoutes @RiversandRoutes Instagram.com/RiversandRoutes Pinterest.com/RiversandRoutes THIS SUMMER WE SAW There were bright spots for the region in the first quarter of FY SIGNS OF RECOVERY FROM 2021. Although we missed the grand fireworks displays along THE COVID PANDEMIC the Mississippi River; Edwardsville, Grafton and Jerseyville DESPITE A FEW HICCUPS put on spectacular light shows over the July 4th holiday. Some ALONG THE WAY. If we events were canceled or postponed but All-Star Restaurant were to describe the last three Week went off without a hitch. And slowly but surely more months it would be with two events are taking shape throughout our communities, though words: Resilience and Hope. they might look a bit different from years’ past. From people masking up at local Farmers Markets to diners The value of tourism on local economies was emphasized returning to their favorite locally owned and operated in July when the state released its annual Tourism Revenue restaurants eager for the salads, crispy fried chicken, pasta, Report for 2019 and we saw a 3.3 percent increase in our and sandwiches they had missed in previous months; cities region alone. While next year’s numbers won’t be as shiny, started to come alive again as visitors, looking for an escape, we know tourism is essential to the recovery and economic growth of our region. made their way to the Great Rivers & Routes region. And while there may still be some restrictions on indoor dining That’s why we continue to highlight the good news in our in some areas, our restaurants jumped in to offer outdoor region. That’s why we are working hard to show visitors we are dining, carry-out and curbside services. the perfect and safe destination for a road trip. We are a great place to spend the night and explore our great locally owned Spending time outdoors never seemed better. The allure and operated restaurants, attractions and outdoor delights. of our 130-plus miles of hiking and biking trails caught the attention of people who wanted room to roam. Taking a WE ARE THE ONLY PLACE IN AMERICA WHERE THE ride up the SkyTour, climbing to the top of Monk’s Mound MOTHER ROAD MEETS THE GREAT RIVER ROAD, AND at Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site, exploring the final WE ARE GREAT RIVERS & ROUTES STRONG! 60-miles of Route 66 in , going to a drive-in theater and learning more about the region’s history in our riverfront communities became new bucket list activities. Interim Director • Great Rivers & Routes Tourism Bureau

2 l TOURISM BUREAU TABLE OF UPDATE

CONTENTS 3 l MARKETING UPDATE facebook.com/RiversandRoutes 5 l SALES UPDATE @RiversandRoutes 6 l ABOUT THE GREAT RIVERS Instagram.com/RiversandRoutes & ROUTES TOURISM BUREAU Pinterest.com/RiversandRoutes

1 WE KICKED OFF THE QUARTER HOSTING ANOTHER SUCCESSFUL ALL-STAR RESTAURANT WEEK IN JULY. WE SAFELY DISTRIBUTED CARDINALS-THEMED RESTAURANT WEEK GLASSES THROUGH THE ALTON VISITOR CENTER WINDOW AND HAD A FUN TIME TALKING WITH EVERYONE ABOUT THEIR DINING EXPERIENCES. THANK YOU TO ALL OF THE RESTAURANTS WHO PARTICIPATED!

RESTAURANT WEEK PARTICIPANTS: We debuted our free Rivers, Routes We are also working with the n Airliner Bar & Grill & Refreshment mobile pass, which University of Illinois and the features eight local wineries, breweries University of Illinois Extension n Alton Wood River Sportsmen’s Club and distilleries. To participate, office on a potential tourism grant in download the pass from Explore. our region. n Bakers & Hale RiversandRoutes.com and check in at Throughout this quarter, we n Bluff City Grill four or more locations to win a free Great continued hosting outreach n Brown Bag Bistro Rivers & Routes face mask. The Walk meetings with our lodging, n Carver’s Southern-Style BBQ with Lincoln and Civil War Legacy attractions and signature events n Castelli’s Restaurant at 255 Tour mobile pass is also available. Tour partners. The quarterly and monthly through Alton’s historic riverfront and n Decaro’s meetings have served as a valuable enjoy audio clips at each location. n Gentelin’s on Broadway resource for sharing information Our staff was proud to help support the during these unprecedented times, n Grafton Winery & Brewhaus “Name the Team” announcement event collecting updates to share on our n Great Rivers Tap & Grill at Lloyd Hopkins Field on August 14. The website and in marketing materials n Joe’s Pizza & Pasta - Brighton Alton River Dragons will be the new and continuing to work together to n Joe’s Pizza & Pasta - Godfrey team making share our story with potential visitors. n Johnson’s Corner Restaurant its home in Alton. The inaugural season will start in the summer of 2021. n My Just Desserts n Old Bakery Beer Company n Roper’s Regal Beagle n State Street Market n The Winery at Aerie’s n Tony’s Steakhouse & Bar

JULY - SEPTEMBER VISITOR 2,958 212 WEB CHATS 1,474 CENTER PHONE VISITOR GUIDES STATS INQUIRIES MAILED

2 In August, we debuted a monthly Our 2020 Fall/Winter Travel Guide entitled, “Illinois Road Trip Round- blog series focusing on the history was released around Labor Day. The Up” to encourage Illinois residents and impact of African ancestry new 68-page guide featured great road to safely explore the state during the on the six county Great Rivers & trip adventures in Southwest Illinois pandemic. The weekly campaign Routes region. The blogs are written including fall color drives, regional ended on Sept. 15 and reached by Charlotte Johnson and Reneé orchards and roadside stands, Haunted approximately 294,570 unique Johnson. The first topic focused on the Alton adventures and the best spots to users. The highest performing week collective history of the Rocky see eagles. was “Best Pizza” with a reach of Fork area. Over the course of the past 16 weeks, 30,246. Other topics included “Local we were one of 19 DMOs in Illinois Breweries and Distilleries,” “Family participating in an organic campaign Fun,” and “Best Ice Cream Spots.”

Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site trip list. The Discover Blog published NOTEWORTHY was featured in the “Have you seen it” its Best Road Trip in Each State list and section in the September/October 2020 Litchfield was listed as a Road Trip PRESS edition of AAA Living. The Hartford to Highlight for Illinois. The new Great Rivers Grafton section of the Meeting of the & Routes website was a Gold recipient of Great Rivers National Scenic Byway the dotCOMM Awards, an international was featured as one of the best riding competition honoring excellence in web routes on Outside magazine’s best road creativity and digital communication.

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have you seen it?

Ancient Attraction

Back in A.D. 1050, what’s now the Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site in southern Illinois really bustled as a pre-Columbian city that may have had a larger population than London. It’s considered to be the biggest prehistoric native

civilization north of Mexico. Today, it sits in stillness, inspiring travelers HOLLINGS MATTHEW with beautiful views of large earthen structures and the green landscape beyond. The site marks each season’s equinox or solstice with peaceful observances of the sunrise. Gather to see golden hues alight from the front of Monks Mound, the largest pre-Columbian earthwork in the Americas. cahokiamounds.org

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maximize their time with teens behind the wheel, reinforce road More than 2,300 teens died in car rules and more. Learn more at crashes in 2018 alone, according TeenDriving.AAA.com. Additionally, teen driver to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. And car licensing procedures in many crashes remain the leading cause states have changed because of community of death for U.S. teens. challenges related to COVID-19. news Oct. 18–24 is National Teen It’s imperative that teens have Driver Safety Week—a good time adequate training and be as

to remind your teens to stay prepared as possible before vigilant behind the wheel. AAA they begin their solo driving Safety has resources to help, including careers. For the latest licensing the StartSmart online course for information in Illinois, visit Measures parents of teens who are learning cyberdriveillinois.com. to drive. The two-hour interactive class teaches parents how to

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3 RIVERSANDROUTES.COM

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Our sales manager participated in and had a 19.82% open rate. In the SportsBiz Xchange virtual September, we sent an email sales conference in August. Our newsletter promoting ways to meet Bureau had 14 appointments safely at the Gateway Convention 24.7K Feel Like during the three-week show and Center thanks to their new cleaning Getting Spooked? we are currently pursuing new leads protocols. The message was sent to with US Cheer, Adrenaline Sports 328 meeting planner email addresses (pickleball), Kayak Bass Fishing and and had a 18.29% open rate. We Major League Quidditch. Sporting also sent a Field Trip News email events throughout the region had newsletter promoting the virtual a big economic impact in July, learning opportunities at the Lewis & including the American Junior Golf Clark State Historic Site, National Association tournament at Spencer Great Rivers Museum, 1820 T. Olin Golf Course and the Colonel Benjamin Stephenson baseball and tournaments House and more. The newsletter at the new Plummer Family Park was sent to 825 educators and had a in Edwardsville. 19.76% open rate. In August, we sent a Touring We continue to work with our group 15.2K Mother Road Tidbits email newsletter sharing the tour contacts to keep existing online link to the new Destination October tour reservations, reschedule Guide. The newsletter was sent to cancelled tours and book new 1334 tour planner email addresses business for 2021 and 2022.

2373 Fall Into Fall JULY- 2695 12.4K SEPTEMBER 36 9 SALES 36,632 followers METRICS: 210 followers

1,885 followers

TOTAL LEAD TOTAL TOTAL TOTAL 29 followers LEADS ROOM BOOKINGS BOOKED NIGHTS ROOM NIGHTS (Launched in July 2020) Lead: Potential business booked for a future date • Booking: Business secured/travelers visited our region July-Sept. 2020

4 WHO WE ARE. WHAT WE DO MISSION CORE VALUES n Commitment to excellence, Advance the overall destination experience and awareness professionalism and for Madison, Macoupin, Montgomery, Jersey, Calhoun and fiscal responsibility Greene counties, in collaboration with community stakeholders, n Open and transparent to strengthen the local economy and quality of life. communications n Consistency and fairness WHAT WE ASPIRE TO BE in all relationships n Encouragement of initiative, innovation, VISION and the expression of ideas Provide world-class destination management and n Promotion of collaborative and marketing leadership that improves this region’s cooperative efforts with community quality of life and economic vitality. partners and stakeholders

GREAT RIVERS & ROUTES STAFF

BARBARA STRACK STEPHANIE TATE KATIE BENNETT GAIL WALLACE MIRIAH HARING Interim CEO/Operations Marketing Sales & Reporting Tourism Manager Tourism Coordinator & Finance Director Communications Manager Director

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

JOHN HOPKINS MITCHELL BAIR KIM DURR CAMEO HOLLAND MIKE McCORMICK DOUG STOTLER Board Chairperson City of Collinsville Southern Illinois City of Alton Village of Godfrey Lewis & Clark Hopkins Law Firm University Edwardsville Community College MICHAEL BARKER LINDA JUN DAVE MILLER LAUREN PATTAN Argosy Casino STACY FRIERDICH- Vandalia Bus Lines St. Louis Regional ERIN VENTIMIGLIA Vice Chair HINRICHS Airport Tony’s Restaurant Old Bakery Beer KAREN BRNCIC DoubleTree by JD LORTON Company Alton Marina Hilton-Collinsville Aerie’s Resort PATTY ROTERMUND CINDY WARKE Best Western Premier Gateway Convention KRISTI HYTEN BRIAN CAMPBELL TOM GUARINO CATHY LUTTRELL Alton-St. Louis Area Center Secretary/Treasurer City of Alton, Bella Milano Holiday Inn Express Hotel Community Volunteer 1st Ward Alderman & Suites Edwardsville SANDY HEFNER Jersey County Board

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