The Illinois Department of Tourism earlier this month launched a $6 million “Time for Me to Drive” campaign, which includes a significant nod to Route 66.
Here is a 30-second ad for the campaign, where the Gemini Giant at the Launching Pad Drive-In in Wilmington and a few other Route 66 sites make prominent appearances:
In case the music sounds familiar, it’s a takeoff of the REO Speedwagon song from 1978, “Time for Me to Fly.”
REO, by the way, was based in Champaign, Illinois, for years.
According to an earlier Chicago Sun-Times story about the campaign:
The ad campaign is marketed toward state residents and those in border states. The ad will appear in seven states and 18 markets, Sylvia Garcia, the acting director of the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, said, adding that the campaign is part of the state’s “ongoing work toward a strong recovery for the tourism industry over the long term.”
The push to see Illinois’ sites comes as recent surveys show about half of Americans plan to travel this summer — half of that number plan to do so via car, the governor said.
Illinois is gambling that people will use their vacation time to drive to destinations despite a recent spike in gasoline prices. The tourism department’s list of road trips is here.
According to an article in the Bloomington Pantagraph:
Despite a national average that tops $3 per gallon for the first time since 2014, AAA estimates that 34 million people will travel by car this Memorial Day weekend, down about 8% from the 37 million who took to the road in 2019, but up by more than half from the number packing the hatchback during the deadly early throes of the COVID-19 pandemic last year.
It’s even taken on a name: “Revenge” travel, said AAA spokeswoman Jeanette McGee.
“People have pent-up demand, they have discretionary income saved up, and they have the time off…” McGee said. “People are going to continue to travel this year, regardless of gas prices.”
I have a hunch the AAA’s estimations are right. In my day job, I recently covered a lodgers tax fund meeting in Tucumcari, where two motel owners already have strong evidence it’s going to be a gangbusters summer for tourism.
And that’s still without the European travelers that usually make up a sizable chunk of Route 66 business.
(Screen-capture image from Illinois Tourism video)
Excellent!