WTTW - CANNABIS TOURISM: WILL LEGALIZED MARIJUANA BRING REEFER MADNESS TO ILLINOIS?

David Zapata, CEO of Zapwater Communications, a Chicago-based PR firm advising destinations on how to increase tourism, doesn’t expect marijuana to have a huge impact on tourism.

“I do think marijuana will be a revenue generator for the state, but I don’t see it as a tourism driver,” he said. “There’s still debate about whether it’s really helped tourism in Colorado. Within the first years there was an uptick in visitors. But in terms of out-of-state visitors, only a small number said they were there for marijuana. Legal marijuana could be one of the reasons why someone comes, but may not be the deciding factor. Also, we don’t have any data on whether certain people chose not to come to Colorado because of marijuana legalization.”

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