CHICAGO | Economic & Business Development

[the urban politician]

Originally Posted by Chi-Sky21

I honestly do not know how much marketing is really going to help. Any of you make choices on where to go abroad based on a pic or article in a magazine or online? I do not. I am going to known places with tons of history, or tropical beaches or because word of mouth. Lets face it, Chicago has a limited amount of things to offer. Nobody is coming here for beaches, outdoorsy stuff, gambling, and to some extent even history. We have the Art Institute, Opera/shows, and great architecture which are world class but the people who care about that are a limited and or dying breed. You think anyone is coming here from abroad for Navy Pier ? Give me a break. We need to host festivals (even those usually only draw from the states though) and fight for the best conventions, get people here for that and then word will spread slowly. Rahm really messed up by not agreeing to terms to host the World Cup here, THAT would have really drawn people. I just do not see it happening for people coming from abroad. Those are major trips for anyone and Chicago just does not justify the added time and expense for what a lot of people want. And TUP, Chicago will NEVER be close to Paris, London, Rome. NO WAY. It is just impossible for us , we simply do not have the draws that they do and frankly can't catch them. They were the center and capital cities of global empires and all the history and trimmings that come with it. We....had the railroads and stockyards. Look, i love Chicago as much as anyone , but get real.

I never said London, and yes Paris is probably a stretch. But Berlin and some other well known European cities are plausible. I think it's unfortunate how Debbie-Downer you guys all are on your home city that has so much to offer.

But I guess that's why our international tourism numbers are so paltry. The attitude has to start at home....