TORONTO — Choose Chicago and a dozen of its partners had plenty of news to share about the Windy City on a 4-day sales mission road trip to Montreal and Toronto.
Most importantly, said Arnaldo Altoran, Director Global Development, Choose Chicago, is that Chicago will have more than 44,000 hotel rooms at the ready by 2018. “This is where we need your help,” Altoran told the crowd of travel agents and trade media in Toronto yesterday. Filling those hotel rooms is a top priority for Choose Chicago as it continues to promote tourism to the city from Canada and beyond.
The good news is Chicago, with its two airports – O’Hare and Midway – has plenty of lift from this market. Air Canada offers flights from Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver, WestJet has flights from Calgary and Porter Airlines has service from Toronto. A number of U.S. carriers also fly from Canadian gateways to Chicago.
Arnaldo Altoran, Director Global Development, Choose Chicago; Nora Gainer, The Art Institute of Chicago; Jim Vozella, Big Bus Tours; Kristen Dos, Blue Man Group Chicago; Tin Bui, CityPASS; Alexandra Medina, Entertainment Cruises; Michael Weinberg, Hiltons of Chicago; Amy Tometich, Museum of Science and Industry, Eli Marie Rodriguez, Raffaello Chicago; Joleen Haran, Shedd Aquarium; Amy Hatnett, Shoreline Sightseeing Tours; Nick Johnson, Skydeck Chicago, Stephanie Freed-Burns, Choose Chicago Canada; Lucia Trevino, Sales Manager, The Peninsula Chicago
Chicago not only has 44,000+ hotel rooms (at least by 2018), it also has more than 5,000 dining venues, including some 26 Michelin-starred restaurants, and 56 museums including The Art Institute of Chicago and the Museum of Science and Industry, both of which were on hand at yesterday’s lunch event.
Chicago also has 77 neighbourhoods, 41 kilometres of lakefront, 250+ theatres, 580 parks and 225 music venues. And what’s the number one attraction in the city, drawing some 10 million visitors every year? Cloud Gate, the reflective silver sculpture better known to many visitors as The Bean and the star of Millennial Park since its installation in 2006.
Altoran said Choose Chicago’s week-long mission to Toronto and Montreal included a combination of education seminars, sales meetings and networking events. Canada ranks consistently as one of Chicago’s top international markets.
Choose Chicago has a new promotional campaign, ‘Choose Chicago: Welcome Home’, that underscores the warm welcome Canadians and other international markets can expect to receive in the city. “Whatever your customers want to do, they can do it in Chicago,” said Altoran. “We have no walls. Everyone is welcome in Chicago.” See choosechicago.com/welcomehome.
