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 Illinois, 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 Prospect League baseball 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. A920_2_10 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 We want to hear from you! Scan this code to join our Facebook group for Chicago-area residents. Answer a few questions to get approval to join the group; then come back to share your favorite hidden treasures and local delights, connect with other readers, and more. 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 7/29/20 9:49 AM 10 | SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2020 TTK_Local_IL_SeptOct2020.indd 10 3 RIVERSANDROUTES.COM 145,909 Website Visits 357,107 Page views 1:25 Avg. Time on Site TOP VISITED PAGES 20,029 Grafton Ferry 16,248 Events TOP SOCIAL MEDIA POSTS: 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.