QC, THAT'S WHERE!
QC, THAT'S WHERE!
How The Quad Cities Wins Big On Group Tourism And Local Pride
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A train rumbles past our new Union Station studio as we kick off a candid, future-facing look at what makes the Quad Cities move: river, road, rail and a visitor economy ready to surge in 2026. We walk through the marquee wins already on the books and the quiet engine behind them: high-impact group tourism that fills weeknights, fuels local businesses, and lifts community pride.
From multi-week bowling tournament and the nation’s largest D3 women’s wrestling invitational to the LBAA women’s bass fishing tournament on the Mississippi, we unpack how sports tourism transforms venues and storefronts across the region. Then we stack championship golf, NAIA Men’s at TPC Deere Run, MVC Women’s, and the new NJCAA D1 Women’s at Oakwood, creating a rare doubleheader that cements the Quad Cities as a championship-ready destination. The spotlight widens with SAFECON, the collegiate aviation finals hosted with the Quad Cities International Airport, drawing top talent and industry leaders for weeks of competition while commercial service keeps humming.
We pull back the curtain on how these wins actually happen: relentless sales, trade shows, RFP strategy, and partner alignment in a fiercely competitive market. That’s why a facilities and venues master plan is next. This is an honest audit of event space to modernize aging assets, close gaps, and prevent the costly drip of lost business. Along the way, we tap the power of digital trails to convert meetings into longer stays: the John Deere Trail for heritage lovers and the upcoming Rock Island Arsenal Trail to unlock America 250 stories with tours, events, and self-guided discovery.
Visitor trends show fewer trips but longer stays; we’re ready with authentic experiences, QC-style pizza, local makers, and a vibe that’s world-class yet hassle-free. International travelers find the real Midwest here, supported by partners like Travel Iowa, Enjoy Illinois, and Brand USA. Resident sentiment tells us pride is rising and tourism’s benefits are clear: more tax revenue, better amenities, and a stronger brand. Help us keep the momentum: share the show, rate and review, subscribe for more stories, and Bring It QC—what event or association will you help us host next?
QC, That's Where is a podcast powered by Visit Quad Cities. Through the people, partnerships, and personalities woven throughout the Quad Cities region, you'll meet real Quad Citizens and hear the untold stories of the region.
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Union Station Studio Launch
Speaker 1The Quad Cities is about river and road and rail and the fact that literally for a hundred years this building has been here, but you know, trains are such a big part of the Quad Cities and the fact that they're gonna roll through, yeah, even when we're doing a podcast, like what more fitting way to like bring this first you know, podcast from Union Station alive by having a train. You can hear it right at this door. There it goes.
SpeakerWhere do you find a family of communities connected by the Mississippi River and grounded by real people with real stories where explorers, entrepreneurs, investors, and dreamers discover a place that's world-class, hassle-free, and refreshingly genuine? QC That's wear. Coming to you from the Union Station Podcast Studio, this is QC That's Wear.
Speaker 4Welcome to QC That's Wear. I'm your host, Katrina, and this is a big day because this is our first episode we're recording in the Union Station Podcast Studio. QC That's Wear has been around for several years, but this is the first time we are in our destination center, downtown Davenport, brand new studio. Our guest today, Dave Herrell, Visit Quad City's president and CEO. Thank you for joining me as our first chit chat goes down.
Speaker 1You know what? It's so cool to be in this space. It's been a long time coming. You know, it's Union Station is a landmark, right? Over a hundred years of history and stories and all the people that have been in and out of this place for years. And the fact that not only is our destination center here, but now we can have our QC, that's where, you know, podcasts where we're telling stories about the quad cities and putting that out to thousands and thousands and hopefully millions of people. Um, but this place is a landmark. And I think for us, um, the fact that we're so proud of this venue and to be in this space. And I love what you've done with the place. Like you totally uh made, you know, something. I was gonna say chicken, you know what, and chicken salad, but it's it's unbelievable and it's so creative, and I think it's just the right freshness and face of where this podcast is going.
Speaker 4There's so much potential here, like not only just in this studio, but in this building, in this community. There's so much potential. Um, we're so proud to be located downtown Davenport. Um, we're so proud to be able to represent both sides of the Quad Cities with um our destination centers, one in Moline, one here. So having this space to just let it all come out is so exciting. You know, as a marketing brain, having some owned media that we can, you know, really grip into and share what we want to share, have these really unedited conversations is really important because that's like it's what we are as a brand, it's what we are as a community. We're we're unedited, unfiltered, we're authentic, we're sometimes quirky, and we like to have you know loud wall uh or aesthetic. So it's it's just very cool to have this finely off the ground and get going.
Pride In Place And Purpose
Why 2026 Is A Big Year
Speaker 1Well, you know, I think Union Station is such a it's just a central player in the evolution of where the Quad Cities um has been for years, for generations. And and so what I love about being in this kind of modernized space and what we're doing with our own media you know strategy, but doing it from our destination center. This is a space where you know visitors are engaging with us um, you know, literally almost every day, um, but residents can too, you know, and the fact that we're right in the heart of a very activated you know space, but the fact that we can now um you know take this podcast uh and punch it up um at another level by being in this you know incredible new studio. Um kudos to you. Thanks for bringing it to life. And I know it's been um a huge creative endeavor with a lot of people to make it happen, but I'm proud of it and I'm proud of where the QC That's Where podcast um is heading because it is about really unearthing these amazing you know stories and it's about shaping the perception of the quad cities. And if you can't do that from your your physical plant, that being our destination, you know, center at Union Station, um, I couldn't think of a more fitting place to do it.
Speaker 4So this podcast will cover a lot, but I think the main point that we're gonna hit on is 2026 is looking to be a really huge year for Visiqued Cities and the region because of that. So can you kind of go into what's ahead for the community this year?
Speaker 1Yeah, I think you know, we're we always have busy years, and every year is a little bit different. But I think so much of 2026 um will be shaped by group business. We've got probably one of the most robust and diverse pieces of group business that I think we've ever had, from meetings, conventions, you know, sporting events, you know, a variety of things that we're doing in that space, um, you know, large and and small. And that requires a lot of time and energy from our professional team, our stakeholders. But to have all of these clients that we've been connected to for several years and seeing some of these things come alive in 26 will be a lot of fun for us, but certainly it's gonna require you know a lot of teamwork to pull them off. But I think it's gonna be a big year. There's there's a lot of things behind the scenes, you know, that we talked about at uh at Destination QC in November that we want to get moving on this calendar year. So really excited about what's ahead and look forward to talking about a little bit more.
Sports Tourism Lineup
Speaker 4Yeah, let's take a look at just let's name off some of the events coming in. So a lot of sports. Sports QC has been working overtime to get all of these um these competitions, um, games in. So let's start with um USB C bowling.
Speaker 1Okay.
Speaker 4A several week long challenge.
Speaker 1Yeah, well, I think we've um sometimes you hear about these things and they're very front of house. Like local media will pick them up, um, a little bit more um attention, you know, worthy. And then there's just a ton of stuff that happens behind the scenes that when people are in the quad cities and they're kind of they're showing up at places, they're like, oh my gosh, what's happening? And then you talk about, yeah, the USB C is happening. And what that means is um literally a multi-week event um that will take place in in the bowling space, and several thousand people coming into our community over a prolonged period of time, and uh, and that's really unique, and then kind of back that up with things like the D3 um, you know, wrestling invitational that we're gonna host, the Augustana. Um, it's really the largest women's wrestling invitational in the country in the D3 space, and really excited about you know hosting you know that particular event. But then there's like a whole like variety of things that we're gonna be doing over the next several months, and really excited about where our sports QC advisory group and our team is kind of taking our sports commission and how we're trying to like make sure sports tourism is continually prioritized in our market because it's such a big thing for what we do.
Speaker 4And you know, on top of that, there's um the LBAA women's bass uh fishing tour tournament, and so that'll be a great way to activate the Mississippi River. I always think it's so cool when fishing events come here because it's like obviously you should be fishing here on the Mississippi, no other place.
Speaker 1Yeah, and I think you know, people that are connected to that sport, obviously they want to have that Mississippi River experience. And so our team has really been trying to think creatively about what are the different kinds of events that we can bring into our community. Sometimes the the stick and ball stuff is phenomenal. Um, you know, people like uh JP Sports and what they you know bring to TBK Bank Sports Complex and around the region is phenomenal. But events like you know, bass fishing, totally unique, brings in hundreds of competitors from all over the Midwest. And anytime we can get people um connected to our world-renowned Mississippi, we're gonna do it.
Speaker 4Yes. And then let's talk golf a little bit. Um, you know, golf is something that we we get in our community year after year. Um, but we have a new um tournament this year with NJCAA. So can you tell us a little bit about why adding that is so special to what we've already got going on?
Championship Golf Doubleheader
Speaker 1Well, I think for us, it's gonna be a really busy um year for championship golf events in the Quad Cities. We've had this amazing run of NAIA men's and women's golf championships. We're gonna host the men's championship again, um, a TPC you know deer run and just an amazing, you know, venue to be able to host a championship event um like that. We're also hosting the Missouri Valley Women's Conference uh golf tournament. And that again will be a deer run and really excited about you know having them in our backyard, and we're really proud of the relationship that we've got with the MVC. But our team has been very intentional with the NJCAA because they've got hundreds and hundreds of colleges around the United States, and so that bench is very deep, and we've not really had a firm strategy to figure out how we can bring in incremental events, and so we've been getting to know them over the last couple of years, and through that relationship, we landed um the golf championship event for uh for women, and it's at the D1 level at NJCAA. So at Oakwood Country Club um here in May, same week as NAIA Men's Championship, we're gonna have essentially two championship events within you know the same week happening. And I don't think that's ever been done in the Quad Cities. So April and May are gonna be really active in that space, and that's just one particular sport. There's a variety of things that we're doing, you know, throughout the year, but really excited about those championship golf events that we've got this spring.
Speaker 4Um, and we haven't even covered like the half of it yet, but let's let's move over to our our group business. So um let's start with SafeCon. Okay. Okay. Safecon is something that is going to be a very unique opportunity for our community. Can you tell us more about like how can we how can we define it to the public?
SAFECon Takes Flight
Speaker 1Well, it's a great question. And so, you know, just to back up a little bit, you know, group business is is the bread and and butter of our visitor economy. We need people coming in here Monday through Thursday. We can't just rely on a leisure traveler. Um, if you and I are coming in for a weekend, you know, that that's not going to drive the bus to have a thriving visitor economy. So you need meetings, you need conventions, you need conferences, you need all of these things. SafeCon was really kind of brought to us by our friends and our partners at the Quad Cities International Airport. Um, and they said, Hey, have you ever heard about this event? Um, and it's a National Intercollegiate Flying Association, it's an event called SAFECon. And, you know, I said, no, I've never never heard of it, but I'll dig in. And as we did this research, we found that it's essentially like the final four for the aviation industry to use kind of a sports um analogy because a lot of people are familiar with the final four. So there are collegiate programs all throughout the US, and these are you know, men and women that are thinking about, you know, being pilots, right? Or they want to work for an airport authority, or they wanted to be, they want to connect to any kind of industry, you know, job, you know, opportunity. But this is like the preeminent event for them that they do in in May. And so we approached um the association and said, why not the quad cities? We literally went to Oshkosh, Wisconsin, and did a presentation. Uh, Ben Leischner, Airport Authority Director, and myself. They were blown away about what the Quad Cities had to offer. And so this May we're gonna be hosting uh SafeCon. Multiple weeks, literally over three weeks, we're gonna have um, I'll call them competitors that are gonna be coming in from these respective you know colleges and universities throughout the entire country and competing at a very you know high level. So a lot of overnight you know demands or hotel friends are gonna be you know very happy, a very activated event. Um, there's a huge um event that we'll do at Rhythm City for all of the people connected to uh to SafeGone. And it's not only an event for these competitors and the people that are connected to these colleges and university programs, but the aviation industry really takes notice because it's a talent driver for them. Yeah. So you're gonna have people that are gonna be coming into the market because they want to they want to like get to know some of these people because they're obviously in a talent, you know, rich environment. And this event would not take place without the Quad Cities International Airport. So the majority of all the activity is literally gonna take place at the footprint of the airport. Commercial airlines are still gonna be able to operate, the airport is still gonna function like it does seven days a week, but we're just gonna have SafeCon a part of that. So a great chance to like elevate the profile of you know that important industry and how it's so critical to our economy here. Our airport is this huge economic you know development engine. Um, and with Project Gateway, you know, happening over the next couple of years, we want to make sure that we shed some light on all the exciting things that are happening, you know, out at the airport. And if we can do that through an event like this, we want to do it. So really excited about SafeCon and I.
Speaker 4And you started to kind of pull back the curtain on the how. Yeah. How do these events come here? Right? I mean, it's more than just it's more than just a phone call. It's more than just hoping somebody sends us an email, hey, I've got an idea. I mean, walk through what like the typical process is. And and we that's one that like we've been working to get for years. You know, that was that didn't start last month. Right. That was, like you said, your presentation in Oshkosh, and these things take time and they take strategy. So, like, walk through the process.
How Big Events Get Booked
Speaker 1Well, you know, I think it's important to note that it's a highly competitive space. There are over 800 destination marketing organizations around the world that are competing every day for a group business. There's 38 in the state of Illinois, there's 21 in the state of Iowa. And so you get a start there. One, you're trying to program your community, you're trying to go after events that are hopefully gonna yield an economic return, right? They're gonna drive value for your visitor economy. Hopefully, they're gonna help you know elevate your brand image, get people here in the community, you know, excited about like what you're doing from a host perspective. Yeah. But it does take time. It's a relationship business. Um, our professional team does a great job. We are out at trade shows, we are doing sales calls, we are going through a very healthy database over 11,000, you know, prospective clients, current clients, talking about the future. If our peas are going out, we are responding to them, if they strategically, you know, fit within the framework of our market, and we're selling. I mean, we are a sales and marketing organization. That is that is a charge. And so um, we firmly believe that the only way to like program our community is you gotta sell it. So you got to be at the right place at the right time, you gotta have the professional expertise to be able to move the needle, to be able to get it done. You have to have the right, you know, partners at the table to make it, you know, a reality. Um, and then you know, you gotta be competitive. And so that requires investment, that requires a strategy and and a plan to be able to accomplish that objective. And probably five or six years ago, we might have had, I don't know, six or seven competitors going after the same piece of business. Now it could be 12, 14, 16 communities that are all going after the same piece of business because they know it's gonna create value for their economy, and they know it's something that's gonna definitely benefit their hospitality industry or even their brand image. Sometimes it's not always about the overnight demand, it might be about the prestige of hosting something because it's it's moving, it's moving the needle forward as it relates to how are you showing up as a community, how are you creating a perception that's positive for your for your region, and then how are you bringing the stuff in so it yields a benefit to our visitor economy. And so we're very blessed. We've got a whole roster of events and and pieces of business that we've got on the books for 2026, but we can't slow down. You have to be doing this literally, you know, five, six, seven days a week. And it's very future casted. We are looking at 2027, we're looking at things in 20 and 29, 2030, and beyond to be able to host.
Speaker 4Um, later on in 2026, um Shriners, the Central States Shrine Association will be here. That's a little different. That's us, that's a citywide. So explain what that means.
Speaker 1A citywide event, and I'm glad you brought it up. This is this is a huge undertaking by our community. And that actual idea came from one of our community members who reached out to us and said, Hey, I'm part of this this group, and I I caught wind that they're looking at other you know communities around the Midwest. And would the Quad Cities be interested? And that was really the spark for us to kind of dig in to see if that would be an opportunity for us. So, like this whole bring it here QC thing is a thing. And so, boy, if we can get more people like that that are picking up the phone and saying, hey, visit Quad Cities, I'm part of this group. What do you think? Yeah, and that's really what gestated the idea. And it took a couple years to be able to land, but Central Shrine is a citywide event, which means it's gonna take up a huge amount of hotel room supply in our market this August. Literally, we'll have over 8,000 overnight um hotel room stays um alone, about 5,000 attendees coming into our community for multiple days, a little experience, all that the Quad Cities has to offer. And we're really looking forward to this. Is probably the largest convention that our community has hosted in well than more than a decade. So really excited about August 26th.
Speaker 4And this is one that people will see happening because you know, some of the plans they have are a parade, downtown Davenport. I mean, they'll be here for several days, they're coming back again, you know, two seasons. So this is one, and not every like meeting convention are something that people would notice is even happening in the community. And that's interesting because that is it's like the unseen economic turntable, right? Like we're bringing in this business, there, these people are experiencing our community, taking home stories with them. Um, and we want everyone to know about that, but it's hard because it's not always under your nose.
Speaker 1It's it's tough because so much of what we do sometimes kind of flies underneath the radar.
Citywide Shrine Association
Speaker 2Yeah.
Speaker 1Um, it still produces a significant amount of benefit and and value for our community. Um, it might not always be everyone's cup of tea either, with the particular programming, but that's our role. You know, you know, tourism is is one apolitical, and it's something that we've got to look at the broad swath of what opportunities are are out there that we could go after and and bid on and hopefully land and host. But that's a prime example of like how these things take a couple years to maybe bring to bear. Maybe not everyone's gonna see it or touch it, but I guarantee you, if you go into a hotel, pop in a restaurant, if you're at one of the venues, or if you're in downtown, you know, Davenport during the parade day, you're gonna see an event like this come to life. But there are a lot of things that are happening that are not that large. We could have a conference for 80 people or 100 here, 200 there, 500 there. And all of this kind of rolls up. And why it's important on the economic side is it's generating a lot of tax revenue. That tax revenue is filling up our public sector's coffers. Like if you look at revenue in 2024 alone in local taxes and state taxes that are generated out of the Quad Cities region, about 166 plus million dollars in local and state taxes generated. And that's in our visitor economy. And so we need those things to come in because it's helping drive you know revenue, and that non-resident revenue is gold. So the more we can do it Monday through Thursday, that's really where we need to be.
Speaker 4And earlier you had mentioned hashtag bring a QC. Yeah. I mean, that's a helpful, what do we call it? Uh, you know, a campaign, a hashtag. You know, it is what it is, but basically it's our attempt to share with the region, quad citizens, you know, you're part of this engine. Right. We want and need your ideas. Um, it's so easy. I mean, there's there's places. On our website, you can go bring it QC. Um, our website is visitquadcities.com. So if you search Bring It QC, or if you just you know got an idea, you can email one of us or hashtag it, you know, put on Facebook, we're always checking. Um, I think that's such a valuable piece of marketing because it just it loops everybody in. This isn't just a visit quad cities endeavor. This is everybody can can play, you know.
The Hidden Economic Engine
Speaker 1Well, I guarantee you if you went to any organization and you just comb the halls and said, Hey, are you a part of this association? Or like what are you involved in from an extracurricular perspective? I guarantee you people are going to be connected to something. Yeah, it could be a trade association, a professional development organization, it could be a church-affiliated organization, so many different things. And guess what? These organizations are hosting meetings. So our small and mighty staff do a phenomenal job, but this is about like broadening this team-based approach. We don't necessarily care where the lead comes from. Right. We want to qualify it, we want to see if it makes strategic sense for our community. Does it fit within the parameter of the calendar and how we want to shape certain things?
Speaker 2Yeah.
Speaker 1And then we got to go after and try to try to land it. But like everybody can be part of that team and we want your ideas because you never know. The Central Shrine is a perfect example of we weren't necessarily thinking at that moment like that was going to be a thing, it was going to work for our community. And this gentleman called, and guess what? We're going to have it here in August 2026. And so we need more of that. We can certainly build our portfolio, but it really does take a community to be able to do that. And if we want to be competitive in the space, we're going to need, you know, the business community, public sector leadership, everybody can play a role. And it doesn't always need to be that big thing. It can be something small too.
Speaker 4Totally. Um opposite of small, I would say would be gathering of the green.
Speaker 2Yeah.
Speaker 4Gathering of the green is coming um really quickly. And like, what is a more appropriate event than Gathering of the Green for the Quad Cities? So that's something that has been kind of in our radar for several years. What are you looking forward to as it comes forward?
Speaker 1I it's a real fun event. Yeah. And I I've enjoyed being connected to it. I know our team has, and we do have um a lot of sweat equity put into that particular event. But it is definitely like the John Deere effect in full force. It is green and yellow, it is heritage, you know, marketing. Um, it is it is sort of that um that feeling that people get um when they're connected to to John Deere and have a love for John Deere. So this is it's people that are in that collectible space, the people that literally, and it's not just the US. I mean, you're having people from all over the world that have this emotional connection connection to John Deere, and they want to be around that community and they want to see vintage equipment. They want to have these conversations with people that share that passion for deer. And so it's here um every other year, right? So it's not here all the time. And so to be able to have it in in 2026, we're excited. There's a wonderful committee of John Deere enthusiasts who um through this nonprofit organization that really you know produce it, but we are with them hand in glove to make it a reality. There's there's tours that happen in the community, the river center um and downtown Davenport is completely you know activated and uh and it's just a wonderful you know event, whether you're eight or eighty, if you've got that love affair with John Deere, it's definitely a place to be.
John Deere Heritage And Trail
Speaker 4And new this year for that crowd, we've got the John Deere Trail, which we haven't had a gathering of the greens since that self-guided experience has been available. So I'm really hoping um we're gonna get the word out, we're gonna let you know these folks know that this is here and available. And it's it's just so cool because you know it's it's easy, it's on your phone, and you can just take a leisurely pace of you know, John Deere history, art, um, you know, the the uh current um spaces, the the pavilion. Um, there's so many walkable places that you can go and just check out, really just at your own pace, which is nice. Um, and then it's just an extra something that we can offer to the folks that are interested in John Deere when they get it.
Speaker 1Well, I think that you know the John Deere Trail is such a it's such a cool tourism product that we that we offer, right? And we've got this amazing, you know, blend of tourism products. But I'm really proud of that one because they're so central to our brand and and our story. And it's it's a way that we could kind of you know build that out a little bit and do it in an immersive way and use technology to be able to help that story. It's a wonderful story. Um, it's it's so central to like our past and our present and our future.
Speaker 4Yeah.
Speaker 1Um, and I'm really excited about the future and where that trail is gonna go.
Speaker 4Um, one thing I wanted to, you know, pick your brain on while we're here together. Yeah, this is a this amazing new space. Amazing new space. I'm like just I'm just so pumped about like how this how this all turned out. Our neon QC, I mean, it's it's everything.
Speaker 1We we turned this this storage closet Union station, our one of our destination centers, into an incredible new platform to share the story of the Quad Cities. So kudos to you, Katrina. Thanks for your leadership and for making it happen. But it it's fun, it's uh it's colorful, yeah, and I think it's a great representation of this podcast and where we can take it.
Speaker 4It's very, it's very Quad Cities, it's very us. Like just so excited about it. And so um, yeah, having this conversation here. We're so excited to have like more guests come in and have them experience our space. You know, it's surprising. We talked about this a little earlier before we were recording, but it's surprising, you know, how you know people may have lived here their whole lives, but haven't been here since it was a train station back in the day, or you know, they haven't experienced our destination center since it um unveiled in 2022. So it's just like a really good opportunity to bring in more people and get them an inside look.
Speaker 2Agreed.
Speaker 4So sorry, I do railed. Oh, is that a train?
Speaker 1I think it's a train.
Speaker 4Oh my gosh.
Speaker 1This is our this is like our inaugural train sighting that we can't see it. No, we know it's out there. We hear it, it's right behind us.
Speaker 4That's fantastic.
Speaker 1And that's one of the coolest things about Union Station. You know, the Quad Cities is about river and road and rail, and the fact that literally for a hundred years this building has been here, but you know, trains are such a big part of the quad cities and the fact that they're gonna roll through, yeah, even when we're doing a podcast. Like, what more fitting way to like bring this first you know, podcast from Union Station alive by having a train? You can hear it right at this door. There it goes. We need to do like a shot of something.
Speaker 4This is a podcast environment. And so we were brainstorming kind of ways that we can have fun with the trains, but this has gotta happen because since we've even been here the last hour and a half, I think we've heard two or three. So this is all right. Okay, perfect.
Speaker 1And cue the trains. Sometimes you just gotta cue us.
Trains, Vibes, And Studio Energy
Speaker 4Pass and through. So, okay, visitation trends. We're gonna talk to you about that. So um, you know, really interesting, and this is a this is going on nationally as well as in our community. Um, we see visitors coming less frequently, but when they come, they stay longer. And that's huge. Like on a marketing perspective, that's huge. And if we strategize correctly, you know, this is where we can really shine because all of the group business we were just talking about, yes, those folks are coming in for something, but we have so much more that they can stay for. Right. And so, you know, we're just we're we're constantly talking about, you know, what are you interested in? What do we have here? I mean, our community, we're world-class and hassle-free. When you come here, you're gonna experience attractions, great places to eat. We've got our own QC style pizza, we've got so many like local makers. The creativity here is off the charts, the creative capital of the Midwest. And I just think that um the the more we can drive that home with folks coming in, the better we'll be, and the more competitive we can stay.
Visitor Trends And Bleisure
Speaker 1Right. Yeah, you know what's unique about your your comment about you know visitation. You know, we we do spend a lot of time and energy in and around understanding like who our customers are, you know, where are visitors coming from, what do they want to experience? You know, they're they're looking for that authenticity, but like understanding um the numbers behind the the data and then how to activate that is really critical if you're trying to create this emotional connection and and really um a brand you know connection to hopefully turn that into like a conversion. And it's evolved so rapidly over the last you know, you know, few years. And you know, visitor trends are gonna they're gonna ebb and and flow. I mean, geopolitical things um you know impact it, um economic conditions impact it. Um, you know, the environment impacts it. Like it all, it all is kind of inter you know, connected. But your point about getting people to stay a little bit longer, yeah, um, it is really, you know, a key thing, you know, for us. And you know, if you think about like that term bleasure, you know, a lot of people in our destination marketing organization space, you know, talk about that. And it really is a thing. I mean, more and more people are they might be coming in for a convention or a meeting, but they might want to come in early, you know, a day, yeah, or maybe stay on on the back end. So when we've got a bunch of you know, group business on the on the slate for the next several months, how are we trying to convince them to maybe do that day trip earlier, do that um on the back, you know, half of the stay? Yeah. So that's something we need to pay attention to. We also need to make sure that we're recognizing that you know, sometimes you know, you want to follow the trends. Sometimes, um, boy, might not be your path. So doing what is in the best interest of your community and and how you want to connect with those visitors, a lot of people don't realize that you know, we have international visitors in the quad cities. Um, they might not understand that, but but we do. Those are things that we are inducing through our work and partnerships with Travel Iowa and the Illinois Office of Tourism, or organizations like you know, brand USA. So understanding what is that international audience, you know, looking for, whether they're coming from Germany, whether they're coming from Great Britain, Australia, um, Brazil, it doesn't matter, but like just making sure that we're cognizant of what that looks like so that we can try to figure out ways to connect with them. And it's and it's hard to. You gotta figure out ways. I mean, we're not doing media buying um, you know, in Sydney, Australia. We can't afford to do that, but we sure as heck need to make sure that we understand that marketplace and how to reach them when they're in the states. And I think what's gonna be unique about 2026 is you know, you got America's 250. Yes, you've got some very large-scale events, FIFA, you've got the Olympic, you've got all of these things that are coming on the pike. And so it could present some unique opportunities for the state of Illinois, the state of Iowa to try to figure out ways to elevate our profile to maybe connect with those people. Um, because maybe if they're coming in for one of those events, boy, can we grab them, you know, for a day.
Speaker 2Yeah.
Speaker 1Um, and and those are the things that we're always like keenly aware of in terms of how we we leverage. But I think also like understanding like where are people you know coming from? And yeah, like our profile is Midwest, you know, Chicago is our our leading, you know, our source market. Um, but boy, like Missouri continues to get steam. Um, Indiana is a state that we've seen a trend up over the last you know couple years. And so like something's happening in some of these markets, and then how do we have a presence in that so that we can continually you know drive more traffic and hopefully bring more people into the quad cities?
Reaching International Travelers
Speaker 4And you know, on America 250, we've got you know just that great opportunity that we have already dug our heels into. We've got the America 250 landing page on our website that really showcases the Quad Cities story in connection to the country's history. Um it's so great, you know. On visitquadcities.com, we've got the community events calendar, hundreds, you know, probably dipping into thousand plus events every year, um, user-generated. So we get tabs on everything going on, the most comprehensive in the region calendar for sure. Um every America 250 event that is available will be on that America 250 landing page that we're here to offer. So it's you know, it's that crowd that I'm in here for, I'm I'm from Germany, I'm here for whatever. Right. But here's this milestone. You're in our community. We are so psyched to have you, and here is all the other things we're doing to celebrate. Um, you know, we also encourage people, you know, to use that calendar, but we encourage people to use the trip planning tool on our website because every experience is different. It's gonna be different in, you know, not one size fits all. We can throw itinerary ideas at you all day, but until you get in and look at your dates, your interests, you know, you can customize your own activities while you're here. And that's another thing that I think is helpful to just push that, do one more thing, stay one more night, see one more sunset, you know, keep that, keep that um stay one more day strategy moving.
Speaker 1Yeah, and I think what's unique about America 250 is um I'm really proud that you know we kind of jumped out there early and we were kind of pushing um our state partners to think through like how do we like mobilize an effort around this? Because you know, for us, you know, selfishly being the home of the Rock Island arsenal and having those you know brave and and men and women that are connected to you know our community, but we are such a a military um driven you know region by having um the you know the arsenal here, but it's more than that. Like the the cultural and historical context of the Quad Cities, literally from the Revolutionary War through the Civil War to the things that have happened um over hundreds of years in in history that's helped shape the Quad Cities, um, you know, arguably like we're a huge part of our nation's you know story on multiple you know levels, like you know, and and we're proud of that that history. And so how can we elevate that? Um, and that's not just to to you know leverage America 250. That's something that we need to be doing, you know, 365 days out of the year, but this year will be unique in that we can put a little red, white, and blue um, you know, love in into that you know direction, and we can really, you know, hopefully bring about some more awareness about how the Quad Cities is entrenched in some really unique um American history. And and we are, and and the people that um you know are connected um within that world um are helping us, you know, shape some of those stories, and there's a lot more to come, and I'm really excited about it.
Speaker 4In development is the Rock Island Arsenal Trail, yeah. Which will be just the perfect compliment.
Speaker 1I wasn't teeing that up for you, I just felt like you know, I'd throw it out there.
America 250 Opportunities
Speaker 4I I think I think it's good to, it's a good segue. It's it's you know, it's part of, it's gonna be part of the Quad City story. It's the perfect like complement to America 250. Um But when people come, you know, whether they're visiting the Arsenal or they didn't know they could go on the Arsenal, um, it'll highlight that history and those um those places of interest that are on the island that maybe you didn't hear of, maybe is right under your nose. The cool thing about these tourism products, you know, the ale trail, the coffee trail, soon to be Rock Island uh Arsenal Trail, etc., is the customer doesn't just have to be a visitor. You know, it can be those folks who live here and want to explore more stuff that they didn't even know was here.
Speaker 1Yeah, and what I love about them is you know, they I think they really sort of invigorate a sense of you know community. Every single one of them has like their own audiences. I'm sure there are some people like myself that are you know part of all of them. Yeah, you don't have to be. Right. Um, but from you know coffee to public art to to beer to John Deere to you know the Rock Island Arsenal uh trail coming down the pike, um, there's there's something for everyone. And and those products are are important. You know, the quad cities is a product. You know, we need to treat it like a product, we need to organically um help it grow like a product. But if we can create you know certain things to maybe connect the people that are here, whether you're a quad citizen or or a visitor, to all that we have to offer, and we can do that through technology and through a mobile device or a tablet or what have you, um, that's a big piece of what we need to do as a DMO. Yeah, is to help get these stories unearthed and to push them in ways so that people can you know find them and learn about us. And hopefully that's gonna you know turn into you know a visit and maybe something um a little bit you know a little bit deeper than that. And that's really the the ultimate goal.
Speaker 4Let's talk destination development a little bit. So a little inside baseball because you know a lot of people listening or watching may not have been to our annual event. Um, every fall we have an annual event, destination QC. Um it's open to anybody, any stakeholders, partners, people who are interested in what we're doing, just those that are involved and want to know more, all are welcome. And so this year, you know, you kind of talked about um developing our community um a facilities master plan.
Speaker 1Right.
Speaker 4Can you talk a little bit about what that means?
Rock Island Arsenal Trail
Digital Trails As Tourism Products
Speaker 1Sure. I I think from from our point of view, um, you know, our tourism master plan is such an important um guidepost for us. I know we talked about a destination QC, like what's what's next, always trying to like put the the future you know forward um as much as we can. But you know, the time is really now in 2026 to really go through a process to have a comprehensive facilities and venues master plan to really look under the hood, um, get a feel for kind of where we are, um, you know, what's uh what's the direction that we need to head as a region. There's 800,000 square feet of functional event and meeting space in in the quad cities. Um some of it is optimal, some of it is not, some of it um needs to be uh modernized and put into a posture to make us more competitive, to bring in grew business, and there could be new things that we need to put on the table and have those conversations. Most really good communities go through these exercises, right? They might not have a specific time dimension, you know, to them. Um, but you need to go through it so you know exactly like where are your gaps, where are the flaws, where are the opportunities that you can seize. And we've been talking about this for a few years. We just haven't had um you know the financial resources to go ahead and invest in this work product. But um I'm gonna do everything in my power with our board of directors and our professional team to advance that because it, you know, the time is is now because more and more communities are investing in their in their facilities. You know, you're either identifying new ones to bring online or they're figuring out ways that they can be competitively positioned. And if we're not, we're gonna lose business. I know at our annual event I talked about the amount of lost business that we've had over a 35-year history. Well, that's real. And so it's usually not just one thing. That could just be, hey, I don't, I like the weather in the Midwest. I want to be, I want to be by a beach, I want to be in a larger city, I want a walkable footprint, I want better airlift, I need this type of hotel, you know, product. I'm looking for this amount of you know, meeting rooms uh within a facility. I need this, this, this, this, this, this, and this. And with the advent of AI coming online, um, sometimes you might not always be working with a meeting planner that you've you know built a relationship with over a decade. It could literally be through just technology, you're being weeded out based on certain things within the RFP process. So making sure that we're prioritizing our facilities and our venues, the ones that are longer in the tooth, how we um address those and then what are the things on the horizon that we really need to be thinking about because it's not necessarily gonna benefit visit cities as as an organization directly what it's gonna benefit is our quality of life and our economic development positioning and our growth and either we're gonna be on a growth trajectory or or we're or we're not and our competitors are doing this and so if we're not we're just simply gonna be left behind and having you know we had the annual event we kind of started getting the the discussions and thoughts going about this we invited everybody to um take part in our resident sentiment survey as well which I think plays into this because it gave the public an opportunity to share what they see is good bad right wrong about the place that they're living in and make a little bit of a a movement to improve areas that they they see need improvement. Yeah I think what one you have to go through um and I'll call it like a a customer intake every now and then right you gotta you gotta take the pulse of your community yeah to get a feel for like how you're doing in a variety of variety of things. Yeah um and a resident sentiment survey is is vital to understanding you know what are Quad Cities like and how are they feeling about you know tourism? What is their perception? Not only how are we doing as an organization but what are the things that maybe we need to prioritize as a DMO moving moving forward. So we literally just got in these results we're going to go through a process with our board of directors to like really understand you know the findings and really just kind of gleaning the information you know very quickly. The one thing I do know is people in the Quad cities feel that tourism is an economic development you know generator and it and it's positive and it does good things to our community. So that's like the number one most salient you know point that I think we always need to remember is tourism it it does it does so many positive things, whether it's economic impact, whether it's social you know impact, it's you know quality of life driver it's all of these things in terms of how you want to build brand image and and perception in a global economy. So I'm looking forward to like really digging in on these findings. Yeah me too and then articulating them out to our community and our stakeholders so they understand what did we learn and what are the things that we need to really focus on in the future.
Speaker 4And I think one of the things we had talked about or really brought to light a couple years ago at a at an annual meeting was um the breggability factor of the cloud cities. And you know I know we have seen growth in that in that element so that's fantastic. And it's it's everything it's um it's the it's the assets it's the attitudes it's it's opportunities like this you know that I think can increase somebody's resident pride and it's it's always what like my mission and I know like our teammates mission is to improve that resident pride because there is so much to be proud of.
Facilities And Venues Master Plan
Speaker 1There is and I think if you go back and look at those numbers and I haven't seen you know where we stack um uh this latest you know finding but I know in 2016 excuse me there was a survey that was done and I want to I want to say only 29% of Quad citizens were willing to brag about living in the quad cities and then when we did the survey in 2019 and announced those findings in in 2020 it was 48% so that you know that moved a little bit. So I'll be really curious I think if it's below 48 you know percent I'm gonna be really disappointed that maybe you know we haven't you know done enough as as an organization and as a hopefully a catalytic engine to try to get more resonant pride get people more excited about living in the quad cities but it is so critical it it's really one of the most important things that you can do is take pride in your community because you got to figure out a way uh to believe in it. You got to figure out a way to you know help market it and sell it. Yeah and you got to do that repetitively like you got to do that all the time or or you're just simply not gonna gonna grow. And so that pride factor that quotient is so vital to the things that we do at physical cities and it's why we look at that as a key metric for success. Now do I ever think we're gonna be at 100% no I do not but I want us to continually work hard as an organization to to drive that forward because I feel it's important.
Speaker 4And we don't want to be at 100% because you know that's like Stepford Wives, you know everything seems perfect and it's just and it's not it shouldn't be it should never be perfect.
Speaker 1The quad cities is not a perfect place. I mean we know um we know our flaws you know we have many but I also know that we um we've got a lot of people that believe in this place and they want to see it thrive and so the the secret sauce of the whole thing is just getting the right energy behind that but keeping the resources keeping the investment keeping the word of mouth moving as as rapidly as we can to hopefully connect with with others and people that are maybe considering um you know moving here or visiting here or whatever it is um I know we'll do whatever it takes to make that happen.
Speaker 4Thanks for the chit chat this is fantastic.
Speaker 1Cheers hey cheers you know I love being in the new space um this uh this podcast is so important to what we do yeah um at VisaGuad Cities and uh really excited about all the guests that we've got lined up for 2026 um and beyond and thanks so much for your leadership and it's it's an amazing space and really glad to be here.
Speaker 4I'm surprised we didn't hear another train.
Speaker 1Hey one we got one yeah I think you did that on purpose.
Speaker 4I might have I might have somebody to do it. Thank you so much for listening for watching for however you are taking in this podcast always engage with us social media our website visitquadcities.com and remember it all starts with a visit.
SpeakerYou've been listening to QC that's where powered by visit quad cities the stories don't stop here there's always more happening more to discover and more reasons to stay QC that's where explore it all at visitquadcities.com
