Nov. 20--ALTON -- Despite some challenges, officials said tourists continued to visit the River Bend during the past year.

Community and business leaders gathered together Wednesday at the Argosy Casino for the Alton Regional Convention and Visitors Bureau's fourth annual tourism summit found out that the region remained a popular destination area for travelers.

Brett Stawar, president and chief executive officer of the CVB, told the more than 100 people who attended the event that even though there were challenges -- the state's ban on smoking in public places, record spring rainfall, mudslides, summer floods, closed roads, high gasoline prices and rising unemployment -- there also were successes for tourism.

"We did different things to attract tourism," Stawar said. "We made sure we did things to get the word out. When floodwaters started to recede, we let people know the area was open again."

Stawar said representatives of the Visitors Bureau, which serves northern Madison, Jersey and Calhoun counties, visited tourism conferences and met with 35 travel writers from around the country to encourage people to travel to the area.

"We had stories featured in 10 travel magazines and 30 newspapers around the country," said Suzanne Halbrook, public relations director for the CVB.

Halbrook said the articles featured in the publications reached 5.8 million potential travelers. She said that besides being featured in print media, there also were stories featured on television shows and online.

"Media is moving toward the Web, and we realize the impact it has on tourism," she said.

She said that the bureau and businesses also are using www.tripadvisor.com, Twitter.com and Facebook to get the word out about the region.

"Social media sites are a great place for people to learn about an area," she said.

Next month, Halbrook said, the CVB will launch an area on its Web sites, www.visitalton.com and www.greatriversbyway.com, that deals specifically with weddings. She said they hope the new feature will attract people to the area to get married.

Stawar said because the Visitors Bureau is limited on the amount it spends in advertising, it's important to invite members of the media to the area, so they can see for themselves what it offers. He said the Visitors Bureau was honored this year at the Governor's Tourism Conference for having the No. 1 visitor's guide, best audio CD and best travel newsletter.

Stawar said the quality of return on tourism is that it creates an economic impact for the state and local region. He said tourism generated $10.3 million in local tax receipts for the past year, which is up 5.1 percent from the previous year.

The CVB welcomed 18,000 tourists and received more than 5,000 telephone calls on its 800 number from people wanting to find out more about the area's attractions. More than 169,000 people stayed in Alton's three hotels and the Pere Marquette Lodge in Grafton.

"The number of room nights increased 3,620 from the previous year," Stawar said.

Stawar said the Visitors Bureau also has received a special grant that will allow it to market toward international tourists. It's estimated that approximately 1.1 million international visitors traveled to Illinois during the past season.

The top five markets for international travelers to Illinois were Canada, the United Kingdom, Mexico, Germany and Japan.

"We are currently working on material that will be distributed in Germany," he said.

He said it's estimated that approximately 102,000 Germans visit Illinois each year, staying an average of about 3.8 nights and spending some $131 per day.

"The CVB is the best it has ever been," Stawar said. "We are working on new things, and we're in a position to grow tourism."

cynthia_ellis@thetelegraph.com

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