Chicago Tourism District

Chicago’s Tourism Improvement District

On March 18, 2026, the Chicago City Council voted to enact the city’s first Tourism Improvement District (TID), a critical tool that will fundamentally transform Chicago’s tourism landscape.

The TID provides a stable funding source to ensure Chicago remains a strong competitor in the convention and global tourism marketplace. The funds will support Choose Chicago, the city’s official destination marketing organization (DMO), in its efforts to attract tourism and citywide events, laying the foundation for billions of dollars in economic activity and thousands of new jobs.

Choose Chicago has historically been significantly underfunded compared to DMOs in competing tourism markets that invest more resources into attracting visitors and events, causing Chicago to miss out on millions of hotel room nights from visitors. The TID changes that and will finally level the playing field for Chicago.

How will the TID work?

A TID is a mechanism for funding tourism promotion and destination development activities. Funds raised through a small assessment (not a tax) on lodging stays within a designated geographic area are used to provide services desired by and directly benefiting the district. There are currently 210 TID’s nationwide and counting raising over $540M for tourism promotion.

Beginning May 1, 2026, Chicago’s TID will add a small, 1.5% assessment to hotel stays within the boundaries, generating approximately $40 million in funds annually to help market Chicago to tourists and events.

Why does Chicago need a TID?

Historical funding challenges put Chicago at risk of losing our competitive edge against other major tourism markets. The TID is an investment in Chicago and the future of the 130,000-plus Chicagoans employed in tourism-related jobs.

The TID will elevate Choose Chicago’s sales and marketing efforts to:

Increase our presence in national and global markets to deliver more leisure travelers.
Increase ability to compete with financial incentives and a hotel fund to deliver more conventions, meetings, events, and sports.
Drive ADR, occupancy, and compression to maintain the integrity of our rates.

How will TID funds be used?

The TID funds will be used in a variety of ways:

Financial incentives & hosting obligations
Hotel grant fund
Global meetings & event strategy
Full-funnel marketing campaign
Investment in travel-trade representation
Global media & influencer engagement
Consistent public relations
Creative partnerships

How will the TID function?

The term of the TID is 5 years. Hotels with 100+ rooms in the zip code boundaries of 60601, 60602, 60603, 60604, 60605, 60606, 60607, 60609, 60610, 60611, 60612, 60615, 60616, 60653, 60654, 60661 will be part of the TID.

When does the TID take effect?

The TID officially takes effect May 1, 2026. Hotels with 100+ rooms within the boundaries will begin assessing the 1.5% TID fee at that time.

How will the TID be governed?

The TID will be governed by a committee of 9 to 11 members who will be appointed in the coming weeks.

Meeting on a quarterly basis, this committee assumes responsibility for overseeing the funds collected within the TID and ensures equitable representation by including stakeholders from various hotel sizes and geographic locations.

This framework guarantees that diverse interests are duly accounted for and facilitates effective financial management within the TID.

Are there additional resources on the TID?

Check out these helpful case studies from Civitas.

Questions about the TID?

For media inquiries, please contact:

Cynthia McCafferty at cynthia@hawthornestrategy.com