Quinn for Illinois

Putting Illinois back to work is at the top of Governor Pat Quinn’s priority list. And for many hard-working people throughout Illinois, tourism means jobs.

On Tuesday, Governor Quinn stood beside Mayor Daley at Chicago’s Navy Pier – the most-visited tourism site in the entire Midwest – to highlight the importance of attracting more tourists, and tourism jobs, to Illinois.

“This is all about jobs,” Governor Quinn said. “Tourism is a key part of our economy. We’re great at tourism, we’re great at conventions, and we’re not going to close our doors.”

Last year, 45.6 million tourists from all over the world visited Chicago, spending nearly $12 billion during their Illinois visits. Those visitors, and the dollars they spent, supported more than 130,000 Illinois jobs.

“Cab drivers, folks who work in restaurants, folks who work at the hotels – they’re not multimillionaires,” Governor Quinn said. “They’re the people who do the hard jobs. They’re just the heart and soul of Illinois.”

Governor Quinn believes the 2016 Olympics could play an important role in putting Illinoisans back to work. One study suggests that holding the Olympics in Chicago could generate hundreds of thousands of new jobs over the next 10 years. That’s a solid return on the billions of dollars in private investment the Olympics would generate.

But whether or not the Olympics come to Illinois, Governor Quinn will continue to invite tourists everywhere to enjoy the hospitality of his home state.

“As long as I’m Governor, we’re going to make sure that everybody in the world knows about Illinois,” Governor Quinn said. “This is a great place to visit, and there’s all kinds of good things that happen for jobs when people come and visit Illinois.”