Chicago’s convention team has the industry’s largest hotel room night production goal of 2.5 million room nights per year from an international perspective, especially within the Chinese market, as Chicago’s largest inbound overseas market. Where does India stand and how difficult it is to achieve those numbers? Marc Anderson, Executive Vice President, Choose Chicago, tells us more.

CHICAGO'S CONVENTION team has the industry’s largest hotel room night production goal of 2.5 million room nights per year from an international perspective, especially within the Chinese market, as Chicago’s largest inbound overseas market. Where does India stand and how difficult it is to achieve those numbers? Marc Anderson, Executive Vice President, Choose Chicago, tells us more.

For more than two decades, Marc Anderson is a veteran in the visitor industry and leads a 45+ person team consisting of Sales, Client Services, Special Events, Sponsorships, Partnerships,  and Human Resources at Choose Chicago. As Executive Vice President, Anderson leverages a comprehensive integrated sales and marketing plan to increase business and leisure visitation to Chicago.

Anderson was recently in India where he shared how important is India market for Chicago.“India continues to be an important international market for Chicago. In 2016, Chicago welcomed 107,000 visitors from India, and it’s one of the top ten international visitor markets for Chicago,” said the 45-year-old veteran who plans to participate in the Brand USA India Sales Mission in 2018.

As per the growth expectations, Chicago continues to increase leisure and business travellers from India to Chicago in 2018. But the biggest challenge that they face with the travellers is apt awareness about what all Chicago has to offer and its location in the US. “This is the reason we will continue with the Brand USA India Sales Mission in 2018 and beyond. The travel agents, tour operators and media we met in India were all very interested in Chicago. Education is key to our success with the Indian traveller,” he says.

For both MICE and leisure travellers, visit world-class museums, dine at one of the many Michelin-starred restaurants or catch a show in one of over 200 theatres. From tours, spectator sports, shopping and other attractions including a nightlife scene with plenty of bars and nightclubs, live music and comedy clubs, you’ll find it at home in Chicago. Choose Chicago now has two sales professionals deployed to bring international MICE programs to Chicago, an important area of growth for our city, hotels, airports and McCormick Place.

Chicago offers meeting professionals and attendees an incredible variety of unique venues and elite services, as well as unmatched entertainment options and a Michelin-rated dining scene. Thanks to a series of cost-cutting labour reforms, McCormick Place is now the largest and customer-friendly meeting and convention center in the United States. 

From downtown convention hotels, best-in-class corporate apartments and trendy boutique hotels, the Chicagoland area has a diverse selection of accommodations perfect for any event. Chicago's hotel options are experiencing an exciting boom, with new properties having opened in the past several years, including this year, and more to come moving forward that feature multi-level restaurants, chic event spaces and impressive amenities.