Quad Cities - As Sunday, June 21 came to a close, local museums reported increased visitation during the first annual Quad Cities Museum Week that ran June 13 through 21. Due to the success of the event, plans are underway for next year's event.

Museums reported anywhere from a 1% to 40% increase in visitation.  Most notably, the small museums recorded the highest percentage increase in visitation during the event.

Buffalo Bill Museum & River Pilot's Pier reported a 40% increase in visitation as did Dan Nagle Walnut Grove Pioneer Village, Alexander Brownlie Sod House, and the Buffalo Bill Cody Homestead.  These museums teamed up to create a Cody Trail passport that people could have punched at each location for a chance to win a gift basket.

The Deere-Wiman House welcomed 621 people during their first-ever tunnel tours.  Black Hawk State Historic Site had 94 people attend their tours, and Rock Island Arsenal Museum visitation was up 21%.  The Colonel Davenport reported strong numbers for their Pioneer Days & Buckskinners Rendezvous.

Additionally, the Family Museum had 4,471 visitors during their event up 1.5%, and Iowa 80 Trucking Museum was up nearly 50%.  All museums agreed the event was a success and brought many new visitors through their doors.

"I am so pleased that the Quad Cities Convention & Visitors Bureau brought area museums together for Quad Cities Museum Week, and that I had the opportunity to work with museums I had never partnered with before," says Elly Gerdts, Marketing Coordinator, Family Museum. "When you group all of these terrific entities together, it really shows the amazing collection of museums the Quad Cities has to offer its community and visitors."

A museum geocache was also part of the celebration and has become a popular new treasure hunt for many geocache enthusiasts. Twelve museums participated in the geocache which involves people using GPS to find hidden cache boxes located outdoors around the museum's property.  The boxes contain little prizes and participants log in when they found the caches. The geocaches will remain in place indefinitely and you can still participate by going on www.geocaching.com.

"The Iowa 80 Trucking Museum received many positive comments from our visitors during Museum Week. Many from local and surrounding communities had visited us for the first time," says Donna Winter, Iowa 80 Trucking Museum. "It's all due to the hard work and collaborative efforts of all those who made Museum Week happen. I personally have experienced a renewed enthusiasm for our local attractions."

The website for Quad Cities Museum Week received 5,000 visits from May 22 through June 21, and over 10,500 page views. Over 2,600 people used a mobile device to access the site. Visitors to the website were from the Quad Cities region followed by visitation from the cities of Chicago, Omaha, Madison, and Milwaukee.

Stories on the event appeared in several newspapers and magazines outside the Quad Cities region including Group Tour Magazine, a popular trade publication read by Group Tour Planners that bring tour buses to the Quad Cities.

"The Quad Cities Convention & Visitors Bureau is ready to begin work on the 2016 Quad Cities Museum Week, and to continuing this great partnership," says Charlotte Doehler-Morrison, VP Marketing & Communications Quad Cities Convention & Visitors Bureau. "This event shows what can happen when area attractions work together towards a common goal that everyone has a vested interest in."

Museums impact our community in a variety of ways. They play a key role in education, job creation, tourism, economic development and more.  They bring quality-of-life to our community and to those whole live here and visit.  In fact, 78% of all U.S. leisure travelers participate in cultural or heritage activities such as visiting museums.  These travelers spend 63% more on average than other leisure travelers.

In the Quad Cities region, there are some 30 museums that are available to residents throughout the year.  A total of 21 museums participated in this year's Quad Cities Museum Week.  The group hopes to increase participation in 2016.