Route 66 in the News
Route 66 Promo Honored With Awards
2008-03-10 17:47:32
JOLIET, Ill. - The Joliet Visitors Bureau's efforts to promote the city as the "gateway to Route 66" was a hit at the recent Illinois Governor's Conference on Tourism.
The Joliet tourism office received three awards, all of them related to the Route 66 campaign.
"We were really able to highlight the mother road here in Joliet," said Ben Benson, director of the visitors bureau.
The bureau was recognized last month for: "Joliet Kicks of Route 66" Directional Signage; a brochure on "Driving and Walking Tours on Route 66"; and an integrated marketing campaign using community events along with other means to promote the city's Route 66 heritage.
The bureau plans to take its integrated marketing campaign a step farther this year by bringing the Route 66 theme to the car show that takes place over the Father's Day weekend in June.
The bureau also this year will add an interpretive gazebo at Billie Limacher Bicentennial Park. It will depict the history of both Route 66 and U.S. 30 since the two historic highways crossed here.
"We're marketing Joliet as the gateway to Route 66," Benson said.
The historic highway route actually started in Chicago. But Joliet has promoted itself as a convenient starting point for Route 66 tourists who may want to avoid the congestion of the big city.
The Joliet Area Historical Museum has a Route 66 display right at its entrance, with nostalgic exhibits and a movie about the highway that visitors can view from simulated automobile seating.
~Bob Okon, SuburbanChicagoNews.com
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