About the Champaign County Visitors Bureau

This “department” of the Chamber is a DMO: Destination Marketing Organization, whose mission is to promote Champaign County as a premier destination of leisure travel, highlighting the area’s historical, cultural, and recreational activities - and as a result, attracting visitors who help enhance the county’s economic and social vitality.
 
A 2013 study by Tourism Economics showed that the total tourism impact in Champaign County resulted in over $47 million in sales and enables the employment of over 350 people in the county.
 

The Visitors Bureau collaborated with downtown Urbana businesses in 2016 to produce a fourth-quarter guide to shopping, dining, and other activities in and around the Monument Square District. A partnership with the Logan and Union County Visitors Bureaus resulted in an update to the Ramblin’ Road Trip, a marketing collaboration highlighting destinations and events in the 3-county region through a website, Facebook page, and print materials. The Visitors Bureau maintains the Champaign County online events calendar and produces a Calendar of Events rack card annually. Funding for the Visitors Bureau is generated by lodging taxes collected by the county.

Champaign County Visitors Bureau Committee

• Pat Thackery, Chairman and Owner of Café Paradiso and Carmazzi’s Candy & Deli
• Tom Coles, Chamber Board Representative and Bundy Baking Solutions Vice President of HR
• Emily MacKendrick, One Eleven Fashion Boutique
• Elton Cultice, Grimes Airport Manager
• Sandy Gonzalez, Champaign County Preservation Alliance Representative and Owner of Honeysuckle Creations
• Adam Moore, City of Urbana Zoning Official
• Sara Neer, Champaign County Chamber of Commerce
• Rachel Casey, Champaign County Chamber of Commerce 
• Margaret Piatt, Owner Piatt Castles
• Doug Crabill, Simon Kenton Pathfinders