The newly formed Route 66 Commission in Tulsa met for the first time Tuesday and vowed first to beef up tourism numbers.
According to a report about the meeting from Tulsa Public Radio, less than 2 percent of Route 66 brochures handed out by the Oklahoma Department of Tourism went to international travelers.
Considering most businesses on Route 66 report a third or more of its tourists come from other countries, that’s a distressingly low number.
Ken Busby, who is helping the Route 66 Alliance raise funds for its forthcoming Route 66 Experience museum complex in Tulsa, said this at the meeting:
“One of the things that we know is happening right now, certainly for our national and especially our international visitors, is they’re bypassing Tulsa. […] They’re coming through from Claremore to Catoosa, and then they’re getting on I-44 and continuing on it, and then maybe getting off in Oklahoma City. And so they’re really missing this jewel that is Tulsa.”
One member of the 15-member commission, city councilor Connie Dodson, suggested more signs in Tulsa help to guide Route 66 travelers through town.
“Not only signage in Tulsa, but maintaining the signage that is clearly being done so much better from Saint Louis down,” Dodson said. “And then you get to Oklahoma, and it stops.”
It’s true, according to the Route 66 Economic Impact Report, the lack of signs is the No. 1 complaint of Route 66 travelers, and it’s not just in the Sooner State.
But the lack of signs in Oklahoma seems somewhat understandable because Oklahoma Highway 66 from White Oak to El Reno already is signed for nearly 200 miles — about half of the state.
However, Oklahoma Highway 66 straddles the freeway through Tulsa, and many novice Route 66 travelers miss on the interesting sights there.
The Route 66 Commission gets $200,000 a year. It’s tempting to spend that on flashier things. But spending it on signs probably is the most cost-effective move — and a good start that could lead to bigger and sexier things for the Mother Road in Tulsa.
(Image of one of the Tulsa Route 66 gateways courtesy of the city of Tulsa)
Totally agree on need for more signs in Tulsa,I,m from Australia and went straight thru without stopping in Tulsa,Bruce Owen
Not only Tulsa but once you leave Kansas it gets a lot tougher to follow the Route due to lack of signage. Just finished the trip on 16 August from East to West and the lack signage issue came up over and over. Had to back track a couple times because of it.
I agree with Rod. We finished our trip on 9th August 2016 and we bypassed not only Tulsa but other places too. We caught on a few times early enough to backtrack. But sometimes we were not able to.
My wife and I are driving R66 from Chicago to LA. I write this from a hotel room in Oklahoma. We were going to visit Tulsa today and if the R66 sign posting had been better (or existed) we wouldn’t have given up and continued to Oklahoma. Also our guide material hardly mentioned Tulsa! Shame…