Chicago tourist hot spots may find that this summer’s visitors have familiar faces.

With the economy still sluggish and a rising unemployment rate, popular tourist spots in Chicago could have more regional visitors than they do visitors from other parts of the U.S. or other countries.

Although the recession has stunted tourism growth, Chicago is still an attractive destination because it’s easily accessible by car, said Gina Speckman, executive director of Skokie-based Chicago’s North Shore Convention and Visitors Bureau.

“We’re doing better than some of the other regions,” Speckman said, “because we have a lot of people who can drive into our region versus flying … as one of the predominant cities in the Midwest we draw from a lot of cities that don’t have the wealth of attractions and things to do.”

Speckman has been pushing marketing toward potential regional visitors who are able to drive and stay in hotels slightly north of the city for less money. She’s noticed more locally booked hotel and attraction packages since the recession took hold.

“There are more people that are choosing to do things closer to home, and there are more staycations, people taking advantage of local attractions and local hotels,” she said.

It was hard to see the effects of the recession Thursday in downtown Chicago. School groups, young couples and large families flocked to Navy Pier. Nicole Harvey, who makes handcrafted necklaces in one of the many booths along Navy Pier’s promenade, said she’s noticed a “typical” summer so far.

“It seems like it’s the same as last year,” Harvey said with a shrug. “It’s still a lot of people coming in.”

One Navy Pier visitor from the region, Kelly Are of New Lenox, Ill., cut corners by choosing a cheaper way to get to the city: She chose a $5 train ticket over the tolls, parking meters and rising gas prices that come with driving to the city.

“I’m not paying $3.50 an hour [at a parking meter],” Are said. “That’s ridiculous.”

Tourists created bottlenecks Thursday on the sidewalk near Millennium Park. Despite the crowds, Jason Neises, vice president of tour operations for The Chicago Architecture Foundation, expects numbers for walking and bus tours to be down this summer compared to last summer. Still, Neises said the city is always going to be a draw for local and international tourists.

“Lucky for us our topic is Chicago,” he said.

The architectural foundation “ratcheted down” this year’s budget to $9.9 million due to the economy but still hopes for the “phenomenally popular” river cruises, which cost between $28 and $32, to draw a significant amount of tourists.

Expectations at other tourist attractions are harder to gauge. At the Museum of Science and Industry, the number of visits declined 15.6 percent last year to 1.41 million from 1.67 million in 2007, spokeswoman Lisa Minier said.

“Every year is different,” she said, adding that the 2007 visits could have been higher due to a popular exhibition.

The fact that more than 50 percent of visitors to the Museum of Science and Industry in 2008 were from the Chicago area could bode well for those beginning to focus on marketing to local residents.

“You usually only visit certain attractions or museums if you have people in town,” Speckman said. “It’s kind of being a tourist in your hometown now.”