Visit BN is looking for help from Bloomington-Normal to help shape the future of tourism in the Twin Cities. The organization was formerly known as the Bloomington-Normal Area Convention and Visitors Bureau.
Zach Dietmeier, chief operating officer, said a new strategic plan will focus on a community-first outlook for tourism. The last one was five years ago.
“Travel is such a big part of Bloomington-Normal, and I think that oftentimes gets buried with seeing about a half-billion dollars in spending for visitors coming into town,” he said. “That’s everything from sports tournaments to business travel to folks coming through the colleges and universities.”
But to see what the community wants, Visit BN has to ask. Dietmeier said a new community survey includes questions for every member of Bloomington-Normal.
"'What does tourism mean to you as a stakeholder?’ It’s a very interesting mix of building questions for a hotelier or a restaurant owner or a small-business holder, very different for how a resident perceives and maybe, ‘Do you view Bloomington-Normal as a destination?’” he said. “It certainly is a destination for many people across the sports spectrum, across the meetings and convention spectrum…”
Dietmeier said the strategic plan will focus on destination development and gaining a better understanding of community partnerships.
Dietmeier said the survey will also gain insight from people who do and do not live within Bloomington-Normal. He said the survey does not just depend on people outside of the community.
“Some of the events are organized by people who live here. Some will just pass through on a yearly basis, or two to three times a year, have a very, very positive view of Bloomington-Normal, and that’s certainly something we want to capitalize on and continue to focus that positive energy in a direction where we’re connecting gaps in the system.”
Ideally, Dietmeier said it would be good to have another big event to Bloomington-Normal, something like the now relocated Bloomington Gold Corvette Show. Plans currently in the works involve the celebration of Route 66’s 100th anniversary next year.
“There will be a series of events that takes place next year, and we’ll be releasing a lot more information on that coming up in January so people can prepare the peak of that season,” he said. “Really, May through October timeframe, Illinois as a whole — from the Office of Tourism — is expecting it could be upwards of one to two million people coming through on the route.”
Dietmeier said the state is expecting many visitors from the United Kingdom, Spain, Germany and more.
Tourism and travel have changed in recent years, most dramatically during the COVID pandemic. Dietmeier said Bloomington-Normal’s bounceback to tourism is spotty.
He said recent data says Illinois outpaces its neighbors in the Midwest for hotel performance, but staffing and resources for those hotels are lacking. It has also led to a decrease in hotel employees.
“So, while we’re seeing more visitors and people come through, we’re not seeing it at the same levels of some of that care side, so that’s something that we’re going to have to keep in mind,” Dietmeier said. “As the industry has changed, there’re more need, but there’s maybe less resource to do that.”
“So, one of the things that we’re examining is how we can be better partners for those organizations in a drastically changed environment for them.”
Another change to the hospitality industry is a decrease in conferences, according to Dietmeier.
“Conferences are more digital or have shrunk in needs. Some have grown in certain areas, so we’re trying to strategize around what types of things would consider Bloomington-Normal,” he said. “Whether it’s a meeting or convention, even sports tournaments have changed in how teams consider how many participants stay in individual rooms or how they travel to events, how they organize around the schedules of the tournament as well.”
The community survey is available now on Visit BN’s Facebook page. It closes at the end of the week.
