$1.3B: Sports drives half of record tourism spending in Quad Cities

QUAD CITIES, Ill./Iowa (KWQC) – Visitors spent a record amount of money in the Quad Cities in 2023, and more than half of that came from sports events.

Visit Quad Cities said tourists brought in $1.37 billion in 2023, a 5% increase from 2022, supporting 9,346 jobs; $76 million was generated for local taxes.

About $565 million was spent in Rock Island County and $814 million in Scott County.

Sports contributed to 56% of the dollars spent.

Lindsay Row from Visit Quad Cities said collegiate events help drive sports tourism, including Missouri Valley Women’s Basketball Tournament and NAIA Golf Championships.

And youth sports is gaining ground.

“The TBK Bank Sports Complex having a robust schedule of youth sporting events,” Visit Quad Cities’ Lindsay Row said. “Couple this with signature events in our market such as the John Deere Classic, the 50th anniversary of RAGBRAI, the Quad-City Times Bix 7, TBK Bank Quad Cities Marathon, and more we realized a positive impact on visitor spending.”

“Tourism continues to deliver results for our regional destination on many levels,” Visit Quad Cities president and CEO Dave Herrell said in a media release.

The organization said the nation is expected domestic tourism to wane in the coming years.

“As the market softens, continued investments in tourism promotion and destination marketing are essential to maintain this momentum.”

Row said Visit Quad Cities uses data collected to send targeted ads to key markets such as Minnesota.

“Although visitors from the St. Paul/Minneapolis region may not have the longest stays, they rank among the top in terms of visitor spending,” she said.

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