Carbondale is not a tourist town. It does not have the attractive and shoppable downtown needed to pull visitors in visit the downtown area. It does not look "quaint", nor does it have the type of shops that would pull visitors in to the downtown area: gift shops, artisanal crafters or antique shops.
What it does have, and this is something city government should push extensively, is adjacency to thousands of acres of national forest, state parks and wineries. We have the lodging in both traditional hotels, motels and B&Bs to serve as a home base for those coming to Southern Illinois to visit those attractions and the city needs a focal point where visitors can pick up information about local attractions. There is a small display last time I looked in the multi modal station. I hope the city puts in a much more fully stocked display to which we can send visitors.
No comments:
Post a Comment