The Route 66 town of Pontiac, Ill., saw record numbers of tourists during 2011. Those numbers in 2012 so far are continuing that strong trend, to eye-popping levels.
According to the Pontiac Daily Leader:
According to a person at the Pontiac Tourism office, numbers of tourists for January and February increased by 400 percent as compared to 2011. March totals have not come in, but those numbers appear larger than average already.
Pontiac received a lot of exposure during two separate car shows in Chicago earlier in the year, including the Chicago Auto Show and the World of Wheels Auto Show. Robert Roarty of Pontiac Tourism said that the Pontiac-Oakland Automobile Museum and Resource Center and the Route 66 Hall of Fame and Museum have been getting many visitors on day trips. Those museums were represented at the shows.
The strong showing also is attributed to unseasonably warm weather.