Founded in 1990, Visit Quad Cities (formerly, the Quad Cities Convention & Visitors Bureau) is the region's official Destination Management and Marketing Organization (DMMO). We are guided by our values of People, Partnerships, and Personality. Visit Quad Cities is certified through the Destination Marketing Accreditation Program (DMAP). This globally recognized program holds Visit Quad Cities accountable to the highest industry standards and monitors VQC's policies, business practices, and operating principles. The Quad Cities regional destination is a bi-state (Iowa/Illinois) family of communities with a population of nearly 500,000 in Northwestern Illinois and Eastern Iowa located on the world-renowned Mississippi River. Visit Quad Cities brings investment into our regional destination through sales, service and promotional efforts that drive new and repeat visitors to our region for meetings, conventions, sporting events, group tours, business travel, vacations, and getaways. We are a private, 501 (c)(6) non-profit engine charged with driving economic opportunity through tourism, building our authentic brand, telling & selling the Quad Cities story, and enhancing Quad Citizens' quality of life and place. The organization is led by a volunteer Board of Directors of regional community leaders and operated by a professional staff. Our goal is to compete for our share of the world's attention. In addition, we operate two divisions of the organization. Sports QC Powered By Visit Quad Cities is a 501 (c)(3) organization operating as the official sports commission for the region and is responsible for attracting, hosting, creating, and facilitating sporting events, and tourism opportunities. And, Friends of the Quad Cities, a 501 (c)(3) organization focused on destination and tourism initiatives that positively impact the community.