A new visitors center has opened inside Gambill’s Coffee at the Shops at Mother Road Market in Tulsa to take advantage of what’s anticipated to be a record year for tourism in the city.
Shops at Mother Road Market sits next to East 11th Street (aka Route 66) and the popular Mother Road Market, which serves as an incubator for fledgling restaurateurs.
Tim Chambers, vice president of marketing and communications for Tulsa Regional Tourism, talked to the Tulsa World newspaper about the visitors center’s opening last week:
The idea is to “market Tulsa to people who are already here” and looking for more to do, Chambers said.
The visitors center’s grand opening came just in time for what Tulsa expects to be the busiest tourism season the city has ever seen. Thousands of people will be coming soon for the PGA Championship, the Certified Piedmontese Ironman competition and the opening of the Bob Dylan Center. […]
Nearly every hotel in or even near Tulsa has sold out for the month of May, officials said.
“We are anticipating record tourism highs in Tulsa this summer,” said Oklahoma Lt. Gov. Matt Pinnell.
And Tulsa expects another boost in tourism from the Route 66 centennial in 2026.
The city also is hoping to have a mixed-use Route 66 development near the Arkansas River open by 2026. But if construction isn’t finished by that time, at least the city has a backup plan to help guide Route 66 tourists during the centennial.
Speaking of Mother Road Market, it also is conducting a Route 66 scavenger hunt:
(A nighttime image of Gambill’s Coffee in Shops at Mother Road Market in Tulsa via its Facebook page)