Navy Pier is No. 1 tourist attraction in Illinois
In ten years, a once aging US Navy pier in downtown Chicago has emerged as the state’s biggest tourist attraction.
Navy Pier, which is a busy mix of restaurants rides and retail stores, now attracts 9 million people a year.
Tourists mingle with residents at the site on Lake Michigan.
Possible new attractions include a water-based hotel and a water park.
The Pier is run jointly by the city of Chicago and the state of Illinois.
It’s overshadowed in conventions by McCormick Place, but Navy Pier also serves as a site for small to medium-size trade shows and meetings in its Festival Hall, Grand Ballroom and meeting rooms. The Chicago Tribune says the pier plans to also crank up efforts to sell that space.
The goal is to keep the state’s No. 1 tourist attraction thriving in the next decade as new attractions vie for tourists’ attention and new meeting space competes for business events, said the newspaper.
Report by David Wilkening
David
Vegas’s Billion-Dollar Secrets – What They Don’t Want Tourists to Know
Visit Florida’s New CEO Bryan Griffin Shares His Vision for State Tourism with Graham
Chicago’s Tourism Renaissance: Graham Interviews Kristin Reynolds of Choose Chicago
Graham Talks with Cassandra McCauley of MMGY NextFactor About the Latest Industry Research
Destination International’s Andreas Weissenborn: Research, Advocacy, and Destination Impact
Graham and Don Welsh Discuss the Success of Destinations International’s Annual Conference
Graham and CEO Andre Kiwitz on Ventura Travel’s UK Move and Recruitment for the Role
Brett Laiken and Graham Discuss Florida’s Tourism Momentum and Global Appeal
Graham and Elliot Ferguson on Positioning DC as a Cultural and Inclusive Global Destination
Graham Talks to Fraser Last About His England-to-Ireland Trek for Mental Health Awareness
Kathy Nelson Tells Graham About the Honour of Hosting the World Cup and Kansas City’s Future
Graham McKenzie on Sir Richie Richardson’s Dual Passion for Golf and His Homeland, Antigua
ADS PRO 
Global tourism exceeds 1.5 billion travelers announces UN-Tourism
Qatar Airways offers reduced timetable to over 60 destinations
WTTC global tourism reached record economic impact of 11 trillion in 2025
Marginal increase for New York City tourism in 2025
Hands In, UATP join forces for airline multi-card payments