Choose Chicago campaign tells the city’s story with bold, timely, rallying cry

When Kristen Reynolds stepped into the CEO job at Choose Chicago at the beginning of May, she arrived at a time when the city’s Destination Management Organization (DMO) was preparing to host IPW 2025 and to launch its new marketing campaign “Never Done. Never Outdone.” It was also at a time when Canada and the U.S. were locked in the middle of a trade war that was having (and continues to have) a significant impact on Canadian arrivals to the U.S. Oh, and she was also plotting Choose Chicago’s path forward to future successes.

That’s quite the ‘To Do’ list, but Reynolds was quick to point out that Chicago had already hosted the James Beard Awards just before IPW 2025 and following it, welcomed the NASCAR Street Race and the Destinations International conference in early July. Plus, there are upcoming events that include the Premier League Series at the end of July and Lollapalooza Chicago at the beginning of August.

With all this and more going on, you might expect Reynolds to be a bit frazzled, but that’s simply not the case.

In fact, calmly energetic is probably the more accurate description as she told Canadian Travel Press: “The pace here is incredible. There’s a lot going on, but it’s invigorating.”

Choose Chicago’s new CEO continued: “There’s a lot going on in the world as well and in our society, and across the globe and in our economy. There’s just a lot of change going on, but I think that’s where, hopefully, the almost 30 years of experience that I’ve had in the industry will play a big part in my success in this role.”

Clearly, Reynolds is already using that experience to cut through the noise and distractions, remaining focused on the job at hand.

She told CTP: “We are an industry based on long-term relationships and long-term planning and expectations, so we are going to stay the course with all of our markets and make sure that we continue to communicate and showcase what’s great about our city and our destination.”

For the full story, check out the July 21, 2025 Issue of CANADIAN TRAVEL PRESS.