Seven Proposed Chamber Projects to Encourage Route 66 Awareness & Travel
1. Promote Route 66 Visitors Welcome Centers along the Route to attract and encourage travelers, tourists and other visitors to stop-in for information about the Communities they will be passing through on Route 66, and provide them with route directions, county maps plainly showing the path of Route 66 and individual county and city brochures that indicate restaurants, lodging, shopping, events and entertainment locations that will be convenient to their travel plans, thereby providing an economic boost to our local business communities. Encourage local Chambers of Commerce to participate in this effort.
2. Promote RV-Friendly parking locations in Route 66 communities. This will encourage additional economic benefits by allowing RV owners to park and shop in downtown business locations, and perhaps stay overnight. The Chamber encourages RV Travel on Route 66.
3. Encourage a program with local Route 66 communities to insure that Historic Route 66 signage (with turn arrows) is placed along the original Route where needed. This will greatly assist Route 66 travelers, especially when and where state signs have been stolen or damaged. This will also enhance the safety of travelers and others as the flow of traffic will become smoother with fewer "turn-arounds" and "go-backs", and remind local residents of their Route 66 heritage.
4. Promote the Chamber by the designing and printing of a Route 66 Chamber of Commerce Tour Guide Magazine that would be distributed at Local Welcome Centers, State Interstate Welcome Centers, local Chambers of Commerce, local CVB's and area businesses that support Route 66 tourism. This should be done at minimal expense to the local governments, as costs will be shared by local sponsors and by donations.
5. Encourage local businesses to display the Route 66 logo on signs, banners, etc., and local communities should make similar efforts that would include small "Welcome to (city name) Route 66 Main Street America" banners (with the Route 66 symbol) on street light poles, and on large banners during community events,...perhaps even Murals! Communities that do this will attract many more visitors to their downtowns and local events because of their visible support of Route 66, and also by making them feel welcome.
6. VISIT 66.com is producing several Public Service Announcements (PSA's) that will be sent to all television, satellite and cable television networks to promote vacationing on Route 66, and the 30 sec., 60 sec. and mini-ads will also be posted on the Chamber's website and on YouTube for viewing by anyone in the world at any time. Links to these promotional videos will also be posted on many Route 66 websites, and on Chamber members websites as well.
7. Consider ways in which existing community events might benefit from the additional publicity that such events receive nationally in the Route 66 Chamber Magazines, websites, etc.. Also consider the possibility of a Route 66 (family) Heritage Festival in your community.
If you would like to have a representative of the ROUTE 66 Chamber of Commerce make a presentation to your community or civic group about the historic (and economic) importance of ROUTE 66 Heritage Tourism in your area, and discuss the projects mentioned here, please call 850-612-0654 or E-MAIL US. Thanks. Ron Hart
