Salt Lake County Mayor Ben McAdams and the area’s tourism board showed their sense of humor by responding to an article in the Onion that claimed the city was changing their tourism tactics. The original article stated (with auto play video):
In a move designed to help the metropolitan area attract more tourists, Salt Lake City officials unveiled a new advertising campaign Thursday reminding potential visitors that they can leave at any time.
The response, according to the tourism site, was to pass an emergency bill to close all exits from the city.
"How are we expecting to increase revenue that way?" an incredulous Mayor McAdams asked tourism board members in an emergency meeting late Thursday night. "The amount of revenue this new bill will generate in hotel and restaurant taxes will pay for the closing of all Salt Lake's exit routes almost immediately. Keeping visitors here indefinitely will help secure our already thriving economy."
The measures taken are then outlined, which includes both freeway off-ramps and airlines tickets, which will now be one-way. The bottom of the article carries the tagline “Welcome to Salt Lake. You Can Check In Any Time You Like…”
-via Marilyn Terrell
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