For the first time in more than a year, Navy Pier hosted a trade show at the Aon Grand Ballroom this week that gathered dozens of vendors and hundreds of visitors to the Hospitality and Tourism Summit.

“The opportunity to celebrate and welcome the hospitality and tourism community back to Navy Pier is just a symbol of what is to come,” said Marilynn Gardner, President of Navy Pier. “We know we will all ricochet together, and it’s great to be gathered on the pier to celebrate the start of the revival.”

Ateema Media and Marketing hosted the event with exhibitors from restaurants, theaters, hotels and museums to celebrate not only the return of tourism but also the event’s 20th anniversary.

“We’re excited to let people know that Chicago is safe to come to and it will still be the great experience you’ve always expected,” said Tim O’Malley, CEO of Ateema. “Today it’s about bringing the industry back together.”

Chicago will fully reopen on Friday as the state moves into Phase 5, which allows all economic sectors to operate at full capacity. Kevin Duff, the president of a local transit company, has already noticed a change in the industry.

“We see a lot of pop-up meetings and events,” said Duff, president of Signature Transportation. “In the past, a lot of these event planners came and planned well in advance. They even see some weddings weeks out. They just want to get in. “

At its lowest point, Signature Transportation operated on just 5% of its typical budget. Now Duff is optimistic about the future and says the fair is the first step towards a revival.

“This is really just a shot in the arm for us and our business,” said Duff. “That is great, because now we can hire the staff again that we unfortunately had to get rid of. We were excited. “

A Navy Pier spokesman said planning for future events in the coming weeks was already underway.