Logan County, Ill., reported a 5.8 percent increase in tourism revenues from June 2006 to June 2007, according to the Bloomington Pantagraph.
It’s the second year in a row the numbers have increased for Logan County.
“I think the key to the whole increase is the rise in traffic we have seen for the Route 66 sites,” Ladd said. “There have been a couple of things — both within our control and out of our control — which have increased the interest level there. For instance, the movie ‘Cars’ was a boost.”
The 2006 Disney animated feature film produced by Pixar includes several scenes related to Route 66.
“That’s something that just fell into line for us and of course, we expect another increase with the Lincoln birthday celebration,” Ladd said. “There’s a lot to see here and our philosophy has been to package both Abraham Lincoln and Route 66 together.
“People are interested in both.”
The county’s total in that time period was nearly $30 million. and the county’s tourism bureau is expecting another rise in 2007-08.