Thursday, March 11, 2010

Tourist town: Springfield hopes to increase tourism

The Capital Area Sports Commission recently partnered for the first time with the University of Illinois Springfield to host the Great Lakes Valley Conference men’s and women’s basketball tournaments. The National Collegiate Athletic Association Division II conference brought more than 300 players, coaches and staff and at least $100,000 to Springfield last weekend. In addition to pre-conference preparations, the sports commission provided beverages for the teams and recruited volunteers to take tickets at the door.

“We’re hopeful that we’ll see other tournaments,” says Amy Beadle, SCVB sales manager. “We want to put our best foot forward, make the city look good, make UIS look good, and hopefully bring other sporting events.”

The partnership was featured in a March 11, 2010, article in the Illinois Times.

Download a PDF of the article:
20100311-ILTimes-Tourist-town.pdf