Havana Seems To Reinvent Itself As An Out of doors Tourism Vacation spot

If you are worried about going to the weekend, Havana, Illinois might be out of your mind.

At first glance, Havana has many raw materials that are needed for tourism. The headquarters of Mason County is on the Illinois River, about an hour’s drive as the crow flies from Peoria, Springfield or Bloomington.

Dr. Sharon Zou, a professor of recreation and tourism at the University of Illinois, says proximity to population centers isn’t the city’s only asset.

“The redevelopment of downtown Main Street is really impressive. So we have a nice combination of the urban feel and the outdoor recreation parts,” said Zou.

So what’s missing? A comprehensive strategy for capitalizing on Havana assets.

This is where the University of Illinois Liaison Center for Expansion and Public Engagement I-Rural team comes in.

The I-Rural team is conducting pilots to redefine rural tourism development efforts in four Illinois river cities: Havana, Grafton, Galena and Savana.

Last week the team took a tour of Mason and Fulton counties, including the Emiquon Nature Preserve, Chatauqua National Wildlife Refuge, and Dickson Mounds. The untapped potential of these websites surprised Zou.

“There is more going on than expected,” she said. “And how you get those words out, that might be a mild impression that I got, and hopefully the project can help.”

According to Kathie Brown, community and economic development educator at the U of I extension in Fulton, Mason, Peoria, and Tazewell counties, the four-phase project begins by gathering information through workshops and one-on-one interviews.

“We hope to call these multi-partner discussions and explore what these opportunities might look like,” Brown said.

That feedback is then used to tailor surveys for tourists in the Midwest, says Joelle Soulard, project leader and tourism researcher at I-Rural.

“So try to get an idea of ​​who is interested in visiting the rural community, what activities they would like to participate in, where they are from, what is the typical tourist population in Havana?”

The I-Rural team will then produce a final report with insights and opportunities that not only Havana, but other rural communities can use to reinvent themselves as tourist destinations.

This type of information is being used to fuel the area’s existing tourism efforts, according to Cole McDaniel, executive director of the Spoon River Partnership for Economic Development.

“We really want to build on that, on this brand. And not only bring new tourists to the area, but also be able to collect data on the tourists who are already here and which we may not even know about because there aren’t any.” A great way to keep track of that data now, “said McDaniel.

April Burgett is a small business owner and chairman of the Havana Chamber of Commerce. She says that tourists who are now in Havana can be divided into two groups:

“About half of them come in because they want access to all of the natural resource tourism that we have, really all over the river valley,” she said. “The other half just want to come here to relax and leave the cities.”

The short-term property opened in the city’s historic downtown just last summer. According to Burgett, most tourists plan their visits based on when they can book an AirBNB loft.

According to Brown, the goal is not only to attract more people, but also to figure out how to get them to stay in the area longer.

“They may come here for a particular location in Havana, but if we can get them to stay longer, they can do several things in this region. And that’s what we really want to see,” she said.

The Greater Peoria Economic Development Council and the Peoria Area Convention and Visitors Bureau are also providing funding for the I-Rural project.

Hopefully Havana’s new approach will provide a template that other cities in Illinois can replicate in their own efforts to attract more tourists.

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