The Lincoln (Ill.) Courier has an article about a panel discussion concerning Route 66 in Lincoln and Illinois in general. Attending were representatives from the Illinois Bureau of Tourism, Illinois Department of Transportation and the Illinois Route 66 Heritage Project.
The Courier reported:
The three women on Wednesday’s panel explained that it’s important for Route 66 communities to market to everyone, since a significant portion of tourists are from Europe. Those travelers fuel the Illinois economy enough for it to sustain more than 300,000 jobs in travel-related employment – an amazing number that people who live on Route 66 sometimes don’t understand.
The panelists encouraged people not to take their homeland for granted.
“(The European tourists) want that open road, that feeling of freedom,” said Ambrose, who often travels with visitors and shares their experiences. “They said, ‘I’ve never seen this far.’ They were amazed with the open spaces. One of them even said, ‘Corn fields are so romantic.'”
More communities are catching on to Route 66, but many more are still missing out.