Thursday, November 23, 2017
Mayor Rahm Emanuel of Chicago is all set to meet his plans of attracting a record 55 million annual visitors to the Windy City much earlier than expected period.
Initially announced in 2014, Emanuel’s initiative had originally hoped to reach its target by 2020. However, it now seems that it will reach the target of 55 million mark by the end of 2017, making it a full three years early.
This isn’t the first time in recent memory that Chicago exceeded tourism goals sooner than expected. Emanuel, after getting his post in 2011, had originally pushed for 50 million visitors by 2020 but set his sights higher after hitting that mark in three short years. In 2016, the total number of tourists had soared to a record 54 million.
Chicago is still more popular than ever among tourists ignoring all the negative national headlines dominated by the city’s issue with violent crime – worst of which was from President Donald Trump who described it as “worse than Afghanistan”. Condé Nast Traveler named Chicago as the top big city in the U.S. to visit and then as the second city as a top culinary and cultural destination.
Thanks to Chicago’s recent Year of Public Art initiative, the Chicago Architecture Biennial, an expanded Riverwalk, improvements to Navy Pier, and thousands of new hotel rooms, tourists have more things to do (and places to stay) than ever before.
