Hope is not a strategy, and the right measures need to be put into place to get people moving again in a healthy and safe way. We need to invest in tourism promotion, programming and development because it will restore a workforce and lead to broader economic recovery. This is just not leisure travel driven, but companies strongly considering lifting moratoriums on in-bound and out-bound travel, robustly bringing back professional meetings, events, conventions, and thinking creatively how we promote, market, and share the incredible Quad-City story is the only approach.
As vaccinations increase and as confidence in travel grows, let us all remember that 93% of all Quad Citizens believe that tourism is good for the Q-C and 83% of residents are likely to encourage family and friends to visit the region. So, let’s do it. Encourage your most important relationships to join us and we will welcome them with open arms. We need all hands on deck and continued teamwork to make the difference. Certainly, there are some challenges, but I firmly believe that we have an incredible destination to sell, and Visit Quad Cities has high expectations for how the regional destination recovers.
If our public and private sectors come together at the federal, state and local levels, we can continue to create a Quad Cities that people want to visit, and live, work and invest in — and most importantly, experience. Now is the time to act and do what we can to thrive again. Help us spread three powerful words — Visit Quad Cities.
Dave Herrell is president and CEO of Visit Quad Cities.
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Originally Appeared On: https://qctimes.com/opinion/columnists/column-the-power-of-travel/article_bf9f985a-0f6d-5863-a83b-75bb499c3c2f.html