The Destination: October 2019

In This Issue

• A Note From David Whitaker, President & CEO
• Choose Chicago Welcomes 18 New Partners
• Partner Profile: A Taste of Taste 222
• September Familiarization Trips
• McCormick Place and In House Meeting Updates
• Client Services Update
• October Site Visits
• HPN Global's CVB Supplier of the Year
• London Roadshow
• Global Influencer Tour
• Media Relations

A Note From David Whitaker, President & CEO

As always, I want to begin by thanking each of you for your continued support and collaboration as we continue to work together to proudly promote something we have always known – but that was recently celebrated by Conde’ Nast Traveler and the votes of their readers – that Chicago is the “Best Large City to Visit.” This was a great accolade for our visitor and meetings industry and all of our partners who host and serve our guests. Each of you are a part of this success.

Speaking of collaboration, I wanted to take this opportunity to welcome and introduce you to the newest members of Choose Chicago’s Board of Directors. Joining our new Chair, Glenn Eden, are a collection of outstanding colleagues who many of you may already know. We look forward to their participation and leadership.

They join an equally outstanding group of returning board members who continue to contribute their time, expertise and passion for our community.

The preliminary hotel performance indicators for the month of September have been published by STR. September was one of the stronger months of the year with room demand (rooms consumed) up 4.5%. It was also one of the few months this year that demand outpaced the increase in rooms supply (supply was up another 3.3%).

Now through nine months, year-to-date hotel room demand is pacing up 1.7%. This represents a 4.3% increase in Leisure room demand (an increase of 250,572 rooms consumed) offset by a decline of 3.6% in Group room demand (a decrease of 106,158 rooms consumed).

We will continue to monitor the upcoming key fall months as we conclude toward dare I say it too soon – the upcoming end of the year.

Welcome our new Board of Directors:

KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS | SEPTEMBER 1 – 30, 2019

KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS | January – September 2019

Partnership

Choose Chicago Welcomes 18 New Partners

Partner Profile: A Taste of Taste 222

Chicago is a city that feels like home. ‘Home’ is another word for the dining experience at Taste 222, a full service restaurant and event space on North Canal.

Global Development

September Familiarization Trips

Familiarization (FAM) trips are a key component in our efforts to market Chicago as a global destination. Through September, Choose Chicago’s Global Development department has hosted 20 familiarization trips from around the world in Chicago. The goal of these trips is to better educate travel trade professionals on Chicago as a leisure destination and showcase its available tourism products. The attendees are key decision makers often sourced through airlines, Brand USA, or major tour operators. The Global Development team customizes itineraries, taking the client’s needs and market into consideration.

Meetings & Conventions

McCormick Place and In House Meeting Updates

Major September Bookings – McCormick Place (2020 – 2024):

Client Services Update

Starbucks Coffee Company recently hosted their Starbucks 2019 Leadership Experience in Chicago. Over 12,000 Starbucks store leaders attended educational sessions at McCormick Place and the United Center. The Starbucks planning team members and executive staff were elated with the results!
While in Chicago, Starbucks partnered with Chicago Cares to facilitate a community open house for their store leaders, featuring several organizations and recipients of give-back opportunities locally and globally, including women’s empowerment, youth, military and veterans organizations.

“The service and attention from Choose Chicago was outstanding. We encountered a couple of bumps in the road (of our own doing) and they were right there with us helping us solve them. Our event was incredible and feedback from attendees and company executives is that it was “flawless.”

October Site Visits

Client Services team members will be conducting nearly two dozen client site visits in October, as well as promoting Chicago at these upcoming Promo Trips (promoting Chicago one year prior to the convention coming to Chicago)

October 15 – 18
IFMA’s World Workplace Phoenix, AZ

October 19 – 23
AACP CHEST Annual Meeting New Orleans, LA

October 27 – 31
American College of Surgeons
Annual Clinical Congress San Francisco, CA

November 18 – 21
ISSA Show North America Las Vegas, NV

HPN Global’s CVB Supplier of the Year

Please join us in CONGRATULATING Frank Alba on receiving HPN Global ’s CVB Supplier of the Year Award at the HPN Global Annual Meeting last week! This is an incredible achievement … thank you, Frank, for representing our community and city.

A little about HPN Global … HPN Global developed its own sourcing platform based upon efficiency and, just as importantly, to foster relationships between hotels and clients. The company’s philosophy is to have a single point of contact at each hotel so a long-term relationship can be formed, resulting in priority handling of our inquiries. Every group hotel in North America and most globally are preloaded into our system so hoteliers can respond to the RFP in literally less than 10 minutes. Typically, in North America the company’s RFPs have a response rate of 85% within 24 hours and virtually 100% within 48 hours.

Last year, Frank and the team confirmed 42,400 room nights for our hotels with HPN associates!

Again, congratulations Frank!

London Roadshow

Choose Chicago held our first ever United Kingdom MICE Sales Mission the week of September 30th. This included travel throughout the U.K. from Swindon to Leeds to London with our hotel partners.

Additionally, Blues musician, Wayne Baker Brooks performed during an event for 170 meeting professionals, media, travel agents and tour operators. Chicago chef and restaurant owners, Thai and Danielle Dang of HaiSous partnered with L’Oscar, a historic local venue, in curating special tasting items and cocktails bringing a taste of Chicago’s culture to the U.K.

Hotel partners on the Road Show included:
Dean Lane and Gene Hare from the Hiltons of Chicago
Patrick Donelly and Nick Jokovich from the Hyatt Regency Chicago
Tricia Shangle from the Hampton Inn and Homewood Suites by Hilton® Chicago Downtown/West Loop
Marina Braica from the Radisson Blu Aqua Hotel Chicago

UK Roadshow participants enjoying the Choose Chicago event at L’Oscar

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UNITED Airlines

AMEX/Accenture Team Fam Trip

Marketing

Global Influencer Tour

Choose Chicago’s Media Relations and Marketing teams hosted a group of micro influencers from September 26 – October 1, 2019, to celebrate the art, culture and culinary scenes in Chicago. The six Influencers from five of our key markets – Brazil, Canada, China, France and Japan – explored multiple neighborhoods as part of a curated itinerary with unique experiences that would make locals jealous.

The influencers attended Chicago Gourmet, one of the city’s premiere culinary events, helping to show off Chicago chef’s creations in addition to getting their cultural groove on at the Chicago Architecture Biennial, Chicago Architecture Center, Art Institute and more.

Collectively, the Influencers reach 348,075 followers (Instagram), and the Chinese Influencer has 1.03 million followers on Weibo and 140,000 on WeChat.

Media Relations

Choose Chicago’s Media Relations team hosted over 90 members of the media on individual media visits and group press tours to Chicago in July and August 2019. The media coverage generated these two months resulted in approximately more than $8 million in media value. A sampling of stories published in July and August 2019 included:

Women’s Health, #Escapes: Uma Aventura em Chicago, Nos Estados Unidos

Casa Vogue, 3 Bienal de Arquitetura de Chicago questiona a ocupação do espaço público ·

The Planet D, 10 of the best things to do in Chicago

Today’s Parent, 12 fun things to do with kids in Chicago

Milenio, Chicago: La ciudad de los vientos,

Arch Daily, Conoce todos los detalles sobre la exhibición “Unraveling Modern Living” de Tatiana Bilbao para la Bienal de Chicago 2019 | ArchDaily México

Architectural Digest, Architecture Marvels to See During the Chicago Biennale This Fall

Wall Street Journal, Why This Fall Is the Ideal Time to Visit Chicago

Glamour, 5 Summer Days in Chicago

Madame Figaro, Chicago, the conscience of art

Evaneos, 48 hours in Chicago