ALTON, Ill. — A tourism group for Metro East has a plan to increase visitors and travel to the area by focusing on attracting more sporting events.
The Alton-based Great Rivers and Routes Tourism Bureau is using part of a $750,000 grant to hire a sports tourism consulting firm to bring more sports tourism to the area east of the Mississippi River.
Originally the Alton Regional Convention and Visitors Bureau, the tourism group rebranded in 1985 as Great Rivers and Routes when it expanded to serve a six-county area that includes Madison, Macoupin, Montgomery, Jersey, Calhoun and Greene counties along with the city of East St. Louis in St. Clair County. The group focuses on three key types of activity in southwest Illinois: leisure, group travel and, the current forefront, sports tourism.
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