Here’s a novel idea for attracting tourists: scare the crap out of them

Look, I don’t know anything about the small town of Kalona, Iowa. For all I know, it could be a wonderful little burg, with pleasant people and pretty scenery. I just think they’ve really chosen one hell-of-a wrong approach towards attracting tourists to visit and spend time in their little town, as you can see here:

KALON, IA - Imagine you're taking a road trip, when you see the flashing lights in your mirror. It's probably the worst feeling you can have.

People traveling through the Washington County town of Kalona Thursday had that feeling, and they weren't even speeding.

Every day thousands of vehicles pass through Washington County on US Highway 218. Many don't notice the small towns listed on the signs. But at least for one day Larry Moeller is going to change that.

"We're planning on catching a northbound out of state tourist," said Chamber of Commerce member Larry Moeller. "We'll go up to the car and ask them if they have about 20 hours to spend with us here in Kalona," he added.

In other words: their fine plan is to chase down passing cars with a police-arrest-like set-up, and once the pulled-over folks have sufficiently crapped in their pants wondering what the heck they did wrong, the tourist-seekers put on their cheery smiles and go, “Hiya! Wanna spend time in Kalon?”.

Lemme know how that works out.

(And that’s not to mention the fact that some of these passers-by may actually be in a hurry to get somewhere, as demonstrated by how they once pulled over a group that were rushing to get to a hospital. Really, this isn’t a wise move at all.)

(via The Agitator)
Technorati tags: tourism · Kalona · Iowa · bad ideas