MOLINE, Ill. — Local leaders are looking at a new way of putting the Quad Cities on the map through a tourism plan that has already been carried out across the country.
QC leaders said it could expand the economy and pour in millions of dollars.
The plan all starts with hotels and the money paid for lodging.
"We're just trying to advance a conversation," said Visit Quad Cities President and CEO Dave Herrell.
Officials are considering a Tourism Improvement District (TID).
"What we find, is these districts are game-changers," said Tiffany Gallagher, a tourism expert with Civitas. "Game-changers for the industry that they affect in the respective cities."
A TID surrounds the hospitality industry and forming an additional tax on hotels and placing that money back into the community.
"It's a way for destinations to kind of take a step back and reinvest in themselves," Herrell said.
Cities like Moline said it could have a greater impact.
"It creates more local activity beyond just a hotel," said Moline City Administrator Bob Vitas. "You have people visiting, and as they visit, they spend money on your restaurants and your other venues."
One of the main goals of the idea is to boost tourism.
"Today is like that further conversation about: what do we want to be in the Quad Cities from a tourism perspective and how are we going to provide the necessary resources to get there," Herrell said.
After two full years of the pandemic, some hope this will be another way to pick back up business.
"This is an economic generator that helps them actually fill their rooms," Vitas said.
The project has already been rolled out in 19 states, but not Iowa or Illinois.
"The challenge to this particular task, if you will, in our community is that we're evenly divided by two states," said Tony Knobbe, a Scott County Board supervisor.
Local leaders hope Illinois and Iowa legislators pass the measure in each state. The plan sits as a discussion in the Illinois senate. It is unclear if Iowa lawmakers have brought up the legislation.
It would be up to Quad Cities leaders and the hotel community to decide on the tax.
If approved by state legislators, officials said it usually takes at least one year before it's fully implemented on a local level.