OCR Text |
Show THE TOWN DOCTOR 1 (The Doctor of Towns) I KNOW THE VALUE OF YOUR TOURIST TRAFFIC There has been a great deal written writ-ten and said about the value of automobile tourists. Not all of it has been correct, siuce much of it has been more or less guess work and the personal opinions of groups promoting highway routes and trails and publishers of books in which advertising is the main issue. In many cases the data given out is somewhat out of line, but bo that as it may, the truth is nearer their figures than the realization ou the part of most towns of th;it 1he actual value really is. A check of automobile iourist traffic in practically every ccruer of the country shows an average of three and one-half persons per car; the average dally expenditure for not less than ten-day trips to be over $17.00 an average of 250 miles daily, covering seventeen cities and towns; and that less than 207 of the traffic are "Tin Can Tourists" those who livo in camps and travel in what might be termed second class. Average expenditures will show: Gasoline allowing 250 miles, 15 miles to gallon at 16c $2.75 Oil average of 3 pints per day at 50c a quart 45 Automobile incidentals including Meals, breakfast 50c, lunch 50c, dinner $i;.00 : 7.00 Lodging average of $1.50 per person u 5.25 Incidentals 1.75 TOTAL $17.70 This does not allow for unforseen expenses, but does include possible tire and mechanical upkeep, tips, a soda or sandwich now and then, and the usual "Having a Swell Time" to the folks back home. On this basis, the potential cash value of each tourist car (a car more than 100 miles away from Its home garage) Is $1.04 to each qf the towns through which it passes. There are few towns of 40,000 population, and many with less, that do not now have an average traffic of 25,000 cars per week (5572 per day or 223 per hour for 16 hours a day less than two cars each way per minute) and motor traffic will Increase yearly. Twenty-five thousand tourist cars enroute spend $442,000.00 in seventeen seven-teen towns per week, or $26,000.00 per town. A business house with an annual business equal to this would be something to talk about. Every town has a chance at this business. It may not be $3,714 per day, hut one-fifth that much is something to go after. The live business organization knows the amount of traffic that passed through the town the same as any live merchant knows the number of people, that pass his store. No town or business can tell if they are getting their share of business to be had if they do not know this. The cash value of tourist or motor trallTc is great enough to warrant concerted action and expenditure cf goodly sums to get it, but there is more: twenty per cent of the out-of-state motor traffic is in the market for, or can be sold, a now location. Good rotirts bavo wld-sied t.-j farmers' farm-ers' range of marketing at ;.:'it and have brcad'.'U".! r.ppor;-..,;;-;, for the employment of ia'tor, but too lew towns and cities have capita!-i::cd capita!-i::cd on it. CepyrlKbt. 102!). A. 1 Stone. Re- I production proiiii'iicci i:i whole or in ! part- This Town Doctor Article is published pub-lished by this paper in co-operation with the Lions Club. |