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CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -
When most people think of Chapel Hill, UNC probably comes to mind first.
Laurie Paolicelli, Chapel Hill/Orange County Visitors Bureau Director, said the university is what put the town on the map to begin with.
"And now, because of that, we're seeing off-shoots of openings and galleries, and museums, and restaurants, and speciality shops," said Paolicelli.
And the visitors bureau is looking for new ways to promote all those things about Chapel Hill, as well.
In fact, it's how the idea of the "Chapel Hill loop" came about. It's a proposed 10 mile route that would be driven by shuttle or bus and show people around the majot points of interest in town: shops on Franklin Street, the Botanical Garden, University Mall, and Weaver Street to name a few.
"The purposed of it is to generate economic development by exposing visitors to everything we have to offer which is not always easy for visitors," said Paolicelli. "They come here and they're not sure where to go or how to navigate the area."
Paolicelli said for the past three years, a guided tour is the most requested item from visitors, and she said they are willing to pay for it.
"You can hop off, explore, view, learn, spend and hop back on to the next site," said Paolicelli.
Yulianna Aparacio, manager at "The Studio Supply" on Franklin Street, said having a shuttle service like this would be great for her store.
"Because we're a small business, we can't afford to do a ton of advertising so I think that would help bring attention to our store," she said.
The idea is still in the early stages, but Paolicelli said they're also looking at including non-traditional stops on the tour, like places that are said to be haunted, to make it fun as well.
The visitors bureau will present the idea to the council task force in the coming weeks.
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By Tom Grizzle on 02/09 10:47 AM
Tom Mixen understood my previous posting because yes, I would want people to come to Chapel Hill to see/study urban conservation in action. If it does not interest you, go to Disneyworld. Commerce through tourism is code for "consumerism", which is an idea loaded with carbon emissions. Do we need more plastic widgets, glass figurines, and what nots? Can we shop our way into happiness and success as a town? Should we once again succumb to business interests? The town's residents don't need shoppers from hither and yon coming to town on a regular basis to consume trinkets.
By Tom Mixen Cement on 02/09 09:54 AM
According to the article, the idea was to build some commerce through tourism - visitors were interested in a bus so they are looking into it. The bus would be less carboniferous and more parking-lot-friendly than people driving themselves, surely? Or was the comment above to the point that people might flock to yawn at some sort of conservation-in-action urban theme park?
By Tom Grizzle on 02/09 09:16 AM
A tour bus has to be manufactured with parts probably made in other countries and with great emissions of CO2. And what about the carbon a tourist shuttle will emit (about 20 pounds per gallon of fuel), and for what purpose? So that a group of bored human beings can be "entertained" by furthering the cause of consumerism, i.e., shopping at this store and that gift shop? People, wake up! Life as we know it is changing. We can either change voluntarily, or be changed by our planet saying enough (CO2) is enough! If you want people to come to Chapel Hill, completely build out the greenways, install bike lanes, make the town more foot-traffic friendly, make school lunches from local farm produce, encourage people town-wide to hang out their laundry, mulch over lawns where ever possible and plant edible landscaping, and so on. If people came to Chapel Hill to see THIS, the carbon expenditure would be worth it, and people could take it back to their homes and do similarly. My opinion, realize this is a changed world. These tour bus ideas are old school. Take this money that would be spent on a bus and do something new school.
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