Peoria Area

What Peoria Area does

The Peoria Area Convention and Visitors Bureau (operating as "Discover Peoria") is the official destination marketing organization (DMO) for the Greater Peoria region in Central Illinois, founded in 1974 and headquartered at 456 Fulton Street, Suite 300, Peoria. The organization promotes tourism, conventions, meetings, and sports events across an eight-county footprint (Peoria, Tazewell, Woodford, Marshall, Stark, Fulton, Mason, and parts of Logan) and serves a diverse demand base including leisure visitors, meeting and convention planners, sports tournament organizers, and heritage/heritage-tourism audiences.

Its core platform is the peoria.org website, which functions as a unified destination marketing system combining a content management system, event calendar, visitor guide request portal, themed itinerary builder, and an e-commerce merchandise store (Discover Peoria Holiday Shop hosted via pacvb.square.site). A notable recent product is the America250 Weekend in Peoria Pass — a gamified, app-free self-guided travel experience using GPS check-ins, points, and prizes. The organization also runs dedicated B2B sales motions for meetings/conventions and sports events hosting, leveraging the region's 4,500+ hotel rooms and network of venues.

The business model is a hybrid non-profit DMO structure: the primary revenue streams are membership dues from hundreds of local hotels, restaurants, attractions, and tourism-related businesses, supplemented by local tourism tax allocations and an emerging direct-to-consumer merchandise/e-commerce channel. Visitor-facing services (content, guides, event information) are provided free of charge. The organization is governed as a private non-profit under JD Dalfonso as President & CEO, with no parent company, no venture or PE backing, and no public listing.

Name

Peoria Area

Legal name

Peoria Area Convention and Visitors Bureau

Website

https://peoria.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1974

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Peoria Area CVB (Discover Peoria) is the official non-profit destination marketing organization for Greater Peoria, Illinois, promoting tourism, conventions, and sports events across eight counties via its website, content platforms, and a network of hundreds of member businesses.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Destination Marketing and Tourism Promotion

NAICS

Convention and Visitors Bureaus (561591)

SIC

Services-Amusement & Recreation Services (7900)

akta.pro primary industry

Convention Campus & District Operators (Integrated Venue Districts) (THAHAAAL)

Keywords

• Destination marketing
• Convention sales
• Visitor information
• Tourism promotion
• Sports event hosting

Headquarters

HQ city

Peoria

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Marketing or Sales, Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Tourism Promotion Services: Convention and Visitors Bureau funded through a combination of membership dues from local hotels, restaurants, attractions, and other tourism-related businesses, as well as allocation from local tourism tax revenues. Promotes member businesses through website listings, event calendars, and marketing campaigns.
2. Event Ticketing and Experience Passes: America250 Weekend in Peoria gamified travel pass with prizes upon completion, distributed through their digital platform.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

The Peoria Area Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB), operating under the Discover Peoria brand, is a non-profit destination marketing organization that promotes the Greater Peoria region of Central Illinois to leisure travelers, meeting planners, and sports event organizers. It provides visitor information, curated itineraries, event calendars, B2B meeting and convention sales services, sports tournament hosting support, and a gamified America250 commemorative travel pass, while operating an online branded merchandise shop.

Product overview

The Peoria Area CVB operates a unified tourism marketing platform centered around its main website (peoria.org) that serves as a comprehensive destination marketing system. The platform combines content discovery features (event calendars, visitor guides, itinerary builders), themed experience programs (America250 commemorations), and B2B services for meeting/convention and sports event hosting. Additional offerings include the Discover Peoria Holiday Shop e-commerce store, the Shop Local small business initiative, and the gamified America250 Weekend Pass travel experience. The site organizes attractions by categories including outdoor activities, indoor activities, nightlife, sports, shopping, dining, and accommodations across multiple counties.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Peoria Area Official Website The primary digital platform (peoria.org) serving as a comprehensive tourism marketing portal that provides visitor guides, event calendars, and curated content for travelers exploring the Greater Peoria area in Illinois.
• Visitor Guides Free downloadable and mail-order guides helping visitors plan their trips to the Peoria area, featuring attractions, dining, and accommodations.
• Calendar of Events Dynamic event listing platform showcasing local events, festivals, live music, sporting events, and community happenings across the Greater Peoria region.
• America250 in Greater Peoria Commemorative initiative celebrating America's 250th anniversary featuring museum exhibitions, self-guided travel passes, and community events centered at the Peoria Riverfront Museum.
• Peoria Area Itineraries Curated trip planning resources including weekend getaways, spa retreats, and themed visit suggestions for different traveler types.
• America250 Weekend in Peoria Pass Self-guided travel pass with GPS check-ins at participating locations, allowing visitors to earn points and win prizes while exploring Peoria's historical and cultural landmarks. Pass is delivered via text and email and saved to the phone home screen.
• Meetings & Conventions Services Sales and support services for hosting meetings, conventions, and corporate events in the Peoria area, leveraging the region's venues and accommodations.
• Sports & Athletic Events Hosting Sports tournament and athletic event hosting services, promoting the region's sports facilities and accommodations for youth and amateur sports competitions.
• Discover Peoria Holiday Shop Online merchandise store offering Discover Peoria branded products and local goods.

Quantifiable outcome

• 4,500+ hotel rooms available for visitor accommodations

Named customers3 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Enjoy IllinoiscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOfficial state tourism partner affiliated with the Illinois Tourism Bureau. The Discover Peoria logo appears alongside the Enjoy Illinois branding, indicating coordinated tourism promotion between the local CVB and state tourism efforts.
• Local Hotels and AccommodationscoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorOver 4,500 hotel rooms available through partnerships with local hotels. The CVB promotes accommodations near outdoor venues for soccer, baseball, softball and indoor venues for tournaments.
• Local Restaurants and Dining EstablishmentscoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorHundreds of local authentic dining options featured on the platform, including breweries, wineries, coffee shops, fine dining, casual eateries, and specialty restaurants across Fulton, Marshall, Mason, Peoria, Stark, Tazewell, and Woodford counties.
• Area Attractions and Entertainment VenuescoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorPartnerships with museums, theaters, sports venues, casinos, trampoline parks, escape rooms, mini golf, and other entertainment venues promoted through the Discover Peoria platform.
• Municipalities (Peoria, East Peoria, Pekin, Washington, Chillicothe, Morton, and others)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborates with cities and villages across 8+ Central Illinois counties to promote local tourism experiences, events, and attractions. Each community has dedicated pages showcasing local businesses and activities.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Choose Chicago: The statewide flagship DMO for Chicago; much larger budget and brand pull, but competes for the same meeting planner and leisure travel wallet share — illustrating the competitive ceiling Peoria faces.
• Visit Indy: Indianapolis DMO with strong sports tourism expertise (NCAA Final Four host, NFL combine); directly competes with Peoria for amateur/youth tournament business due to venue scale and brand.
• Explore St. Louis: Regional DMO for St. Louis, a larger midwestern destination competing with Peoria for sports tournaments, conventions, and weekend leisure travel from nearby markets.
• Enjoy Illinois (Illinois Office of Tourism): The official state tourism bureau that Peoria partners with; broader geographic scope and larger marketing budget, but represents both an enabler (co-marketing) and a competitive threat for attention.

Regional players

• Destination Cleveland: Midwestern city DMO operating with similar funding model and multi-channel digital strategy; useful comparable for benchmarking CVB marketing ROI and member economics in a non-coastal US market.

Direct peers

• Experience Grand Rapids: Midwest mid-market DMO with comparable scale and a strong emphasis on sports tourism and meeting hosting — directly relevant peer for evaluating convention and tournament capture strategies.
• Visit Champaign County: Regional Illinois CVB covering Champaign County with similar DMO mandate, university-driven tourism, and comparable sports/meeting hosting capabilities. Closest direct peer given shared geography, scale, and audience.
• Bloomington-Normal Convention & Visitors Bureau: Adjacent Central Illinois CVB serving Bloomington-Normal; near-identical mandate, funding model (hotel tax + membership dues), and audience composition, making it the most direct head-to-head comparable.
• Tourism Toledo: Ohio mid-sized city DMO with comparable regional mandate and revenue model; useful direct peer for benchmarking budget allocation, staffing ratios, and digital marketing effectiveness.
• Springfield Illinois Convention & Visitors Bureau: Illinois state capital DMO with comparable scale and heritage tourism emphasis (Lincoln sites), serving as a regional peer in attracting leisure visitors and convention groups within Illinois.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks2 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/DiscoverPeoriaCVB
• Instagraminstagram.com/discoverpeoria
• Xx.com/DiscoverPeoria_

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Peoria Area