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City launches summer tourism campaign

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By DREW KERR / Lincoln Journal Star

Friday, Jun 01, 2007 - 12:23:32 am CDT

Lincoln’s chief tourism guru says local residents should retain more of their unleaded gold this summer and opt for the Star City’s attractions rather than hit the highways.

Jeff Maul, executive director of the Lincoln Convention and Visitors Bureau, said high gas prices are a good reason for locals to visit the Lincoln Children’s Zoo instead of, say, the Henry Doorly about 60 miles away in Omaha.

“You’re going to save hundreds at the pump,” Maul said Thursday, flanked by a John Deere Model B tractor at the Lester F. Larsen Tractor Test and Power Museum. “It’s just smarter to go five minutes from home.”

Gas prices averaged $3.34 in Nebraska and AAA reported lodging and restaurant costs were up 3.7 percent from last year as Maul talked up Lincoln’s 30 local attractions.

The “Be a Tourist in Your Own Home Town” campaign Maul presented includes a “passport” featuring 12 Lincoln attractions. Participants collect stamps for stopping by. Anyone who collects seven stamps will be eligible for prizes.

Billboards across the city are advertising such local amenities as the Museum of Nebraska History, Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery and that giant tower in the middle of town, the state Capitol.

“I think most people ignore some of the places we have locally,” Maul said. “I’d be willing to bet most people haven’t been through the Capitol since elementary school.”

Participation has grown exponentially since the program began four years ago, he said. Last summer, 3,000 people turned in completed passports.

Organizers say that kind of turnout is why they’re seeing other cities follow Lincoln’s lead and highlight their local offerings.

“When we started this, we were one of just a few in the country,” Maul said. “We’re starting to see a lot more of it now.”

Jeremy Steele of the tractor museum on the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s East Campus said the campaign helps attract visitors “tremendously.”

“One of our biggest challenges is paying for advertising,” he said. “This takes care of that.”

The museum houses 30 tractors that date back to the early 1900s.

“It’s a farm experience in the middle of the city,” Steele said.

Reach Drew Kerr at 473-7223 or dkerr@journalstar.com.


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Luke Peterson wrote on June 1, 2007 2:05 am:
" THIS COMING SATURDAY..."Star City" Pride celebration! 1:00 p.m. to about 8:00 p.m at 12th and R in Lincoln. Come one and all to see what diversity is really about! Then at Omaha, 8th through the 10th, it is the Nebraska Pride celebration. June is national GLBT history month and Nebraska is not alone in the nation about celebrating such minority causes. I hope to see those who are skeptics about accepting GLBT rights as a regular tax paying citizen to come because these events are not about divisiveness, they're about unity! "
Ben wrote on June 1, 2007 2:27 am:
" Yes, when I think of Lincoln I think of tourism!! "
bill w wrote on June 1, 2007 8:24 am:
" If a GLBT rally is the best we can hope to offer as a tourist draw, we are in trouble. "
Cal Naughton Jr. wrote on June 1, 2007 8:45 am:
" Tourism by definition is "The practice of traveling for pleasure." Seems like a waste of money to me. Shouldn't we be trying to get people from outside of Lincoln to come visit Lincoln instead of the locals artificially inflating our "tourism dollars"? "
Important wrote on June 1, 2007 9:01 am:
" Cal, It's important to have both local & outside 'visitors' spending dollars in Lincoln. Locals have the opportunity to support local businesses and assist in the campaign of 'word of mouth advertising' to outside entities about our wonderful city. It shouldn't be just outside visitors experiencing the history, tradition and entertainment of this fine city. Get out there and support Lincoln, no matter where you reside! "
Dave wrote on June 1, 2007 9:09 am:
" I almost drove 130 miles to Lincoln for the weekend. Thank you Mr Maul for keeping me "smart" and 5 min from home! "
bebop wrote on June 1, 2007 9:37 am:
" I am waiting for the riverwalk and shopping along salt creek. Once thats done I think lincoln will be the tourist mecca of the u.s. Just look at Minneapolis-St Paul. While in lincoln I can visit the drag races and after that I will visit the museum. "
Problem is wrote on June 1, 2007 10:23 am:
" we don't really have anything major to attract those from outside the state. "
Why live here? wrote on June 1, 2007 10:56 am:
" I think it's a fun and unique idea to get locals interested in "touring" their own city. Lincoln does have a lot of hidden gems to discover. They may not all be big draws to out-of-towners, but there is nothing wrong with getting to know your own city better. Every time I read these blogs, I'm amazed at all the griping and complaining I see from Lincolnites. If you think Lincoln has so little to offer, why stay? "
Build a Drag Strip wrote on June 1, 2007 11:22 am:
" Build a drag racing facility that would provide the most family and participant motorsports venue in America in Lincoln, this will bring people to our city and state. One NHRA Division event will attract 10 to 15000 visitors to Lincoln. Thousands of Nebraskans will be traveling to Topeka KS this weekend to the NHRA Nationals. "
CL wrote on June 1, 2007 11:41 am:
" When I lived in other states, people took bus tours thru the years and I'd ask if they stopped in Lincoln, and the answers were always, "no - we stopped a little in Omaha but nowhere else in Nebraska". I could tour this town in 5 minutes. Wheeee what a vacation!! Lincoln already keeps me broke, think I'd want to spend whats left here??? "
Curious wrote on June 1, 2007 12:46 pm:
" Isn't it st5ange taht some people will find fault with what ever is proposed. Yet these same people never come up with and idea of their own. Maybe it is because they believe every one out there is like them and do not have the guts put an idea foreard for fear of being rediculed. If you have better ideas propose them "
Will wrote on June 1, 2007 3:52 pm:
" Yeah, it may cost more gas to go some where. But atleast we will have fun. There's not much to do in lincoln. Why would anyone visit the lincoln zoo over the omaha one? I guess if you can't afford the extra $20 in gas. But if thats the case, you probably shouldn't be spending money on the zoo anyways. "
Remeber When wrote on June 2, 2007 7:34 am:
" Give us some good live music. Again - please remember entertainment - and a venue to support local music. "

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