QC Edition: National Travel and Tourism Week

QUAD CITIES AREA (KWQC) – National Travel and Tourism week gives QCA residents an opportunity to celebrate what all the region offers.

The Quad Cities has a variety of vibrant arts, entertainment, scenic riverfronts, and cultural scenes.

“It’s an opportunity for Visit Quad Cities to tell that story and reinforce why travel and tourism is important because we need those revenues flowing into our community because they’re being reinvested into things that are making us a better community,” President and CEO of Visit Quad Cities, Dave Herrell said.

The Quad Cities regional destination has a $1.5 billion visitor economy with over 9,000 local jobs.

“We want it to continue to thrive and grow,” Herrell said. “The more times we can bring in that non-resident revenue from people from all over the US, we need to do it. It’s just good for quality of life, it’s good for quality of vibrancy.”

Herrell says exciting projects are happening on both sides of the river like the TBK Bank Sports Complex area, downtown Rock Island’s project, and Davenport’s riverfront.

“All of these things from a destination development side really help us on the tourism product,” Herrell said. “You know, our community is a consumable brand. It’s a consumable product. The more times we’re investing and adding to what that product looks like, and how we shape it, it’s going to help us sell and market and promote it.”

Herrell says this is an opportunity to tell and reinforce why travel and tourism are important.

“The more times we can get people here, it’s a good thing,” Herrell said. “Everybody wins. Certainly our local residents and Quad citizens, you know, win and tourism is an economic development driver. It is leading the way in terms of shaping our brand perception and putting the Quad Cities on a global map.”

Herrell mentioned that the concept of having multiple communities within 15 to 20 minutes within each other makes the area unique as well as the Mississippi River sets the region apart.

Visit Quad Cities says in addition to summer events like the John Deere Classic and the Quad City Times Bix 7, they will host events for the Coca Cola Collectors and the Iowa Association of Business and Industry Leaders.

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