Cat Visitors Center will play big part in state tourism
- Details
- Published on Wednesday, 25 July 2012 21:45
- Written by Paul Gordon
Coming off a record year in 2011, the Illinois Office of Tourism had a lot to crow about when it made a stop in Peoria on Wednesday.
Still, it was understandable why state tourism officials would be excited about what it yet to come in Peoria — the new Caterpillar Visitors Center and Peoria Riverfront Museum, both scheduled to open Oct. 20.
(Photo by Paul Gordon) Jim Baumgartner, director of public affairs for Caterpillar Inc., speaks during a news conference Wednesday at the company;s new Visitors Center slated to open Oct. 20. He is in front of a replica of a Caterpillar 797 mining truck that will serve as a 70-seat theatre for the Visitors Center.The Caterpillar Visitors Center was the venue for Wednesday's news conference where tourism officials Jan Kemmerling and Jan Kostner touted the past year's accomplishments. They and other speakers, including emcee Don Welch, the new head of the Peoria Area Convention and Visitors Bureau, were dwarfed by the "exhibit" they stood before in speaking to an audience of local and area civic leaders, legislators and media.
The exhibit was a life-size replica of a Caterpillar 797 mining truck that appears real on the outside, but contains a 70-seat theatre in its bed that would normally carry a payload of nearly 400 tons.
"What an exhibit to start with," Welch proclaimed in opening the news conference.
Other speakers including State Sen. Darin LaHood, R-Peoria, who said the replica truck was "a glimpse of what we can expect to see in the future." Indeed; Caterpillar plans to exhibit its machines throughout the Visitors Center, with most concentrated in one large room on the ground floor of the three-floor structure at Main and Washington streets.
Peoria Mayor Jim Ardis said he remembered being at Caterpillar headquarters across the street from the Visitors Center when the company announced it would build the $37.5 million center adjacent to the new museum. The excitement, he said, has been building since.
"The commitment Caterpillar has made to the community ... well, words cannot adequately express what it means to Peoria," Ardis said.
He announced he has received commitments the mayors of two of Peoria's sister cities —Friedrichshafen, Germany, and Clonmel, Ireland — to attend the grand opening of Museum Square. "So you see, we're already getting people from around the world here for the grand opening," he said.
Jan Kemmerling, local tourism manager for the Illinois Office of Tourism said the state had $31.8 billion in tourism business in 2011, well above 2010 numbers. The Peoria area has $295 million in tourism business itself, she said. That was a gain of 10.3 percent from 2010.
That level of tourism expenditures put nearly $6.3 million in local tax coffers and $16.8 million in state tax receipts.
Tazewell County enjoyed $177.6 million in tourism expenditures in 2011 while Woodford County had nearly $16 million.
More than 4,000 residents of the Tri-County area were employed in the tourism industry, the state said.
Noting Caterpillar's global business and the number of visitors it receives, Kostner said arrivals into Illinois from overseas grew by 6 percent last year and the state expects it to climb even further.
All this helps the state economy, she added. In fact, tourism is leading the state's jobs recovery with nearly 4,500 new jobs created in the tourism industry in 2011.
Jan Kostner, deputy director of the Office of Tourism, which is a division of the state Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, said the growth resulted from a well-planned and strategic marketing campaign.(Photo by Paul Gordon) The new Peoria Riverfront Museum, including its planetarium, can be seen through the windows of the offices and lunchroom of the Caterpillar Visitors Center. Both buildings are scheduled to open Oct. 20.
"Marketing works and it can work very quickly," she said while pushing the importance for collaborative efforts between the state and local tourism bureaus.
The state said the economic impact of tourism in Illinois has grown by more than $3.5 billion in the last five years. The gains, it said, "demonstrate that the travel industry's efforts to promote the state help drive a powerful economic engine that benefits many sectors."
The news conference was followed by a tour of the building and the progress made to date. It was the second such tour Caterpillar has given since construction began.
In the case of the Visitors Center, much of the attraction will be the Caterpillar machines and simulators that will be in the building. Those are not installed as yet.
But much of the theatre inside the mining truck is finished, at least to the point those on the tour could somewhat imagine sitting behind the driver of the truck as he drives into a coal mine.
"It will be quite an experience, we promise you," said Jim Baumgartner, director of corporate public affairs for Caterpillar.
Paul Gordon is editor of The Peorian. He can be reached at 692-7880 or editor@thepeorian.com
