TOURIST NUMBERS There can be little doubt that the higher costs of gasoline has inhibited the number of tourists we now see here in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia.
It seems to me we used to keep closer tab on the people who visit our to our part of the nation for pleasure rather than business and commerce. The complex nature of the vehicular traffic which now uses Interstate 81 defy any tabulation of who, what,from where and why? Rest stops are now used by everyone because filling station pit stops are fewer on related roads.
I notice fewer guests at the many Bed and Breakfast locations,too. Generally motels and restaurants are
prospering with new and larger ones being planned. o many attraction in the Virginia are so often of an historical nature which attracts a steady group of "learning" visitors of students.
I also wonder if the Internet causes increases or decreases in the number of guests we see. The fact that they can see the attractions on their screens at home is all the more reason they want to see them in person. We have the homes of two presidents - Thomas Jefferson and Woodrow Wilson - and both
can be seen on the Internet, but there can be nothing which can equal which lives when you are actually standing in the very spot, in the very room where the presidents stood in the past. As a tourist, you are "there" in a unique manner.
It is a good feeling to live in a section of the country which has a strong appeal far beyond that of mere novelty or uniqueness. Ours is an historical and geological attraction with us at all time. Come to be with us in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. We gave up on counting long, long ago.
A.L.M. April 21,2006 [c313wds]
