Illinois has kicked off a review of its multimillion-dollar tourism PR business with an RFP process open through mid-January.

Chicago
Photo: City of Chicago, Mark Montgomery
Edelman is the longtime incumbent for both the domestic and international tourism PR business.

The Illinois Office of Tourism, part of the state’s Dept. of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, says it wants PR pitches to promote the state for U.S. and global travel, and in sub-categories of tourism like agricultural and heritage.

The Office of Tourism, facing budget and other issues, had to cut its international PR efforts last summer but pushed through a $224K emergency pact for Edelman in August after officials said the cuts brought "devastating results" to state revenue when PR was stopped in Europe.

The state is expected to end the fiscal year with an $8.3B deficit.

Proposals are due Jan. 19 with a vendor conference slated for Jan. 5. View the RFP by registering for Illinois' procurement portal or logging in to odwyerpr.com.