5-May-16 – Aerial gondolas floating by cable 17 stories above the Chicago River are part of the “new vision for tourism,” according to two directors of Choose Chicago, the organization that markets Chicago as a destination.

Speaking to members of City Club of Chicago on Tuesday, Laurence Geller and Lou Raizin presented ideas to attract more tourists to the city with projects that “capture the mind and inspire the soul of both residents and visitors alike.”

“Chicago is the most underrated world-class city,” says Geller (left). “We have to re-think how we present ourselves to the world, because if you stand still in this industry, you have already fallen behind.” Costing $250 million but paid for by private sources, the aerial gondolas, an attraction called Chicago Skyline, would connect Navy Pier, Millennium Park, and the Riverwalk.

(Above) Path of Chicago Skyline from Navy Pier at upper right, across the Chicago River, then over the Riverwalk and west to Lake Street at lower left.

According to Geller, starting in 2012, he and Raizin studied the most successful tourism cities in the world and identified 50 of the most attractive concepts. They then hired a consultant to determine which concepts would increase the number of visitors to Chicago, along with the time and money they spent. They say their ideas, by 2020, can attract 76 million tourists each year, increase tourist spending by $26 billion, and create 135,000 jobs.

“We realized that if the city executed these plans, and these plans alone,” says Geller, “many of the city’s economic woes would disappear.”

(Below) Another idea is to project moving images onto the river-facing rear of Civic Opera House.

Chicago Skyline, according to Raizin, was inspired by the need to connect Navy Pier, Millennium Park, and the Riverwalk. The aerial gondolas, he says, will transport 3,000 people per hour and operate “in most weather conditions.”

It was designed by David Marks of London’s Marks Barfield Architects, designers of London Eye, a 394-foot-diameter Ferris wheel on the south bank of the River Thames, and Steven Davis of Davis Brody Bond, based in New York.

Geller and Raizin say the Skyline attraction alone will attract 1.4 million people to Chicago each year, create 8,400 jobs, and generate $330 million annually in taxes, rent paid to the city, and spending by tourists.

“We kept coming back to the same question,” says Raizin (right), “What’s our unique feature? Where’s our Eiffel Tower? Where’s our Big Ben? These ideas are our attempt to answer this question and are intended to start a conversation in the city about what we would like our reputation to be in the future.”

Red tape to cut, then 18 months to build

“This is no pipe dream,” insists Geller. “After four years of study, working with some of the best experts anywhere in the world, and frankly, millions of dollars of expense, we know this is real, very real, and can be done.”

Sources of money, he says, would include bank loans, corporate bonds, and private investors.

Raizin estimates construction could start in about two years and take 18 months to complete. “There’s a number of hurdles that we have to jump…and we’ve invested a lot of money testing those hurdles.” (Left) Closer view of a gondola pod.

Raizin is founder of Broadway in Chicago, a theatrical production company that presents touring Broadway productions at five local theatres. Following the 45-minute presentation to City Club of Chicago, he addressed the recent departure of Don Welsh, CEO of Choose Chicago, and five of its executives.

“Choose Chicago, which we sit on the executive committee, their entire focus is marketing. They’re in a transition and we’re convinced we’re headed to bigger and better things. Don was wonderful but we’re just as convinced what comes following Don will be as wonderful.”

Geller is chairman and CEO of Geller Capital Partners and was recently president and CEO of Strategic Hotels & Resorts, owner of 18 luxury hotels. A native of the United Kingdom, he has the honorary title of Commander of the Order of the British Empire.