Visit Lake County

What Visit Lake County does

Visit Lake County, formally the Lake County, Illinois Convention & Visitors Bureau, is a 501(c)(6) nonprofit destination marketing organization (DMO) founded in 2006 and headquartered in Gurnee, Illinois. The organization promotes tourism across Lake County, Illinois, including 20+ municipalities such as Gurnee, Libertyville, Highland Park, Deerfield, Waukegan, Mundelein, and Lake Zurich, with a focus on the county's 170 lakes and rivers, 31,000 acres of forest preserves, and 6 miles of Lake Michigan shoreline. It serves five primary customer segments: individual leisure travelers, meeting and event planners, wedding parties, sports groups, and group tour operators.

The organization's core product is a digital destination marketing platform centered on visitlakecounty.org, supplemented by a multi-channel social presence (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, LinkedIn), an email newsletter, a toll-free visitor hotline, and physical visitor guides. The website is built and maintained by third-party vendor J Rudny, LLC, and incorporates UserWay's automated accessibility remediation technology for WCAG 2.1 AA compliance. Content is organized into thematic sections covering outdoor recreation, dining, shopping, accommodations, events, weddings, meetings, sports tournaments, and group tours.

Visit Lake County generates revenue through two primary streams: recurring membership and partnership fees from local businesses, venues, and municipalities, and tourism promotion services provided to municipalities and tourism-related businesses. The organization holds Destination Marketing International accreditation and Illinois Destinations Association certification, and participates in the Illinois Office of Tourism's "Illinois Made" program and the Illinois America 250 initiative. With 13 employees, operations are lean and partnership-driven, with no disclosed financial data and no traditional equity funding.

Name

Visit Lake County

Legal name

Lake County, Illinois Convention & Visitors Bureau

Website

https://visitlakecounty.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2006

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Visit Lake County is a 501(c)(6) nonprofit destination marketing organization that promotes tourism across Lake County, Illinois, serving leisure visitors, meeting planners, wedding parties, sports groups, and tour operators through its website, social channels, and partner network of 20+ municipalities and local businesses.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Destination Marketing & Tourism Promotion

NAICS

Nature Parks and Other Similar Institutions (71219)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

River & Wetland Ecotours (Canoe/Kayak, Mangrove/Swamp Tours) (THAAAEAE)

akta.pro secondary industry

Sightseeing & Scenic Boat Tours (Harbor, Sunset, Dolphin/Whale Watching) (THAJAJAA)

Keywords

• Destination marketing
• Convention visitors bureau
• Tourism promotion
• Travel planning resources
• Visitor information services

Headquarters

HQ city

Gurnee, IL

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Revenue model

1. Membership/Partnership Fees: Local businesses and venues pay to become partners/members, gaining visibility and marketing support through the CVB platform.
2. Tourism Promotion Services: Providing destination marketing services to local municipalities and tourism-related businesses in Lake County, Illinois.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Visit Lake County operates as the official destination marketing organization (Convention & Visitors Bureau) for Lake County, Illinois. It provides free visitor information, curated travel guides, event calendars, dining and accommodations directories, and specialized planning resources for leisure travelers, meeting planners, wedding parties, sports groups, and tour operators. The organization promotes Lake County's tourism economy through digital content marketing, partner network coordination, and membership-based business partnerships across 20+ municipalities.

Product overview

Visit Lake County, operated by the Lake County, Illinois Convention & Visitors Bureau (a 501(c)6 nonprofit organization), is a destination marketing organization website that provides tourism information for Lake County, Illinois. The organization offers visitor guides, event calendars, travel planning resources, and business partnership programs. Their digital presence includes various informational guides covering outdoor recreation, dining, accommodations, arts & entertainment, and local attractions. This is not a software product but rather a marketing and information platform for regional tourism promotion.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Visitor Guides and Travel Planning Resources

Segments5 records

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered core and supporting.

• Illinois Office of TourismcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborative partnership in the 'Illinois Made' program celebrating exceptional small businesses, artists, chefs, and manufacturers. Visit Lake County works alongside the Illinois Office of Tourism to showcase Lake County makers and participate in state-wide tourism initiatives including Illinois America 250.
• Destination Marketing InternationalcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAccreditation body for destination marketing organizations worldwide. Visit Lake County holds official accreditation from this organization, demonstrating professional standards in tourism promotion.
• Illinois Destinations AssociationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerState-level association of Illinois destination marketing organizations. Visit Lake County holds certification from this body as part of Illinois tourism promotion network.
• UserWaysupportingTechnology or IntegrationThird-party accessibility consulting organization providing website accessibility solutions. UserWay helps ensure visitlakecounty.org is accessible to people with disabilities through automated remediation technology and accessibility widgets.
• J Rudny, LLCsupportingImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerWebsite development partner responsible for building and maintaining visitlakecounty.org.
• Lake County Forest PreservescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMajor outdoor recreation partner managing 31,000 acres of preserves with 170 lakes and rivers. Co-promotion of outdoor activities including hiking, boating, bird watching, and nature exploration.
• Lake County Municipalities (20+ communities)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with local governments including Antioch, Deerfield, Fox Lake, Grayslake, Gurnee, Highland Park, Highwood, Lake Zurich, Libertyville, Lincolnshire, Long Grove, Mundelein, North Chicago, Vernon Hills, Wauconda, Waukegan, Winthrop Harbor, and Zion for coordinated destination marketing.
• Community Partners (Hotels, Restaurants, Attractions)coreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorNetwork of local businesses including hotels (Lincolnshire Marriott Resort, Great Wolf Lodge, Hyatt Deerfield), restaurants, attractions (Volo Museum, Ravinia Festival), and retail venues that participate in promotional programs and special offers through the CVB platform.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Broad incumbents

• Illinois Office of Tourism: State-level tourism-promotion authority and Visit Lake County's strategic partner. Operates broader portfolio across all Illinois counties and manages statewide initiatives like Illinois Made and Illinois America 250 that the DMO plugs into.
• Destination DC: Established accredited DMO for Washington, D.C. Useful comparable for destination-marketing operating model, partnership monetization, and multi-channel content strategy at a larger scale.
• Visit Orlando: Major U.S. destination marketing organization with similar 501(c)(6) structure and partnership-based funding. Benchmark for advanced DMO digital marketing, content monetization, and meeting-lead generation practices.

Emerging players

• Simpleview: Leading DMO/CVB technology platform providing CRM, content management, and digital-marketing tools. Highly relevant because DMOs like Visit Lake County depend on this category of vendor for their digital infrastructure.
• Arrivalist: Travel-intent and visitation-measurement platform serving many U.S. DMOs. Relevant peer because it represents how DMOs increasingly purchase performance-marketing and attribution capabilities from third-party vendors.

Others

• Sojern: Digital marketing platform purpose-built for travel marketers including DMOs. Comparable as an ecosystem enabler whose paid-media and audience-targeting capabilities increasingly compete with DMO-led marketing efforts.

Direct peers

• Choose Chicago: Official DMO for Chicago, Illinois. Same destination-marketing mission and accredited DMO status as Visit Lake County, but operating at significantly larger scale and budget, making it the primary Illinois peer for model and competitive comparison.
• Visit Champaign County: County-level DMO in Illinois with similar nonprofit structure, partnership funding model, and event-driven GTM motion. Comparable scale and operating approach to Visit Lake County.
• Visit DuPage County: DMO for neighboring DuPage County, Illinois. Highly comparable in structure (501(c)(6) nonprofit DMO), team size, funding model, and Chicagoland regional focus — directly competing for visitors and partner relationships in the same metro.
• Visit Bloomington-Normal: Mid-size Illinois DMO operating with a comparable nonprofit membership structure and event-driven tourism promotion. Similar target segments (leisure, meetings, sports tournaments).

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/VisitLakeCounty
• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/visitlakecounty
• Facebookfacebook.com/VisitLakeCounty
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/visit-lake-county
• Instagraminstagram.com/visitlakecounty
• TikToktiktok.com/@visitlakecounty?

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

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 Visit Lake County