The Route 66 Road Ahead Partnership this week announced its Vintage Motel Task Force set two goals and identified seven challenges that face owners of historic Route 66 motels.
According to a news release from the partnership, the task force’s purpose is is “to retain, sustain, and enhance the viability of vintage motels along Route 66 by bringing together owner / operators committed to collaboratively addressing common challenges / needs.”
It identified these challenges Route 66 motels face:
- Economies of Scale: The challenge of not being able to leverage group-buying opportunities of day-to-day supplies and other fixed costs, advertising, marketing, etc., due to the lack of a vintage motel purchasing group.
- Operational Economics: The cash-flow challenge of maintaining a vintage motel business throughout the entire year, given the seasonal nature of the business.
- Advertising/Marketing: The challenge of how, when and where to do effective advertising and marketing.
- Quality Standards: The need for vintage motel quality standards designed to motivate customers to feel comfortable staying at such properties.
- Workforce: The challenge of recruiting and keeping good/qualified employees, given small labor pools and the seasonal nature of owning/operating a vintage motel.
- Networking: The need for professional networking designed to help vintage motel owner/operators tap into the wisdom and experience of other owner/operators.
- Work Environment: The challenge of how exhausting it is to be the owner/operator of a such highly personalized business.
The group stated it would focus on the economies of scale that would benefit independent Route 66 motel owners. The first two goals:
- Leverage group purchasing to reduce overall operating costs, such as day-to-day supplies.
- Increase revenue with a branding and marketing process that devises a plan, a budget and a strategy that results in more room reservations.
The task force also wants to update a database of vintage Route 66 motels originally compiled by the National Park Service so it can recruit motel owners into a purchasing group. It also plans a meeting in Moriarty, New Mexico, to form the branding and marketing plan for such motels.
Members of the motel task force are:
- Debye Harvey, Boots Court, Carthage, Missouri;
- Debbie and Mike Pogue, Sunset Motel, Moriarity, New Mexico;
- Larry Smith, Motel Safari, Tucumcari, New Mexico;
- Ed Boles, retired city planner/historic preservation officer, city of Albuquerque;
- Eric von Starck, sales and marketing consultant for Panetiere Hospitality;
- David Bricker, chairman, Road Ahead Preservation Working Group;
- Jeff Fulgenzi, chairman, Road Ahead Economic Development Working Group;
- Kaisa Barthuli, program director, Route 66 Corridor Preservation Program;
- Bill Thomas, chairman, Route 66 Road Ahead Partnership.
(Image of the Boots Court in Carthage, Missouri, by Jeff Kays via Flickr)