If you’ve traveled north or south on interstate 75 lately, you may have seen a few of the Dalton Visitors Bureau’s catchy billboards. There are six Dalton Billboards, which are part of a campaign to promote Dalton as a travel destination; however, they are also an attempt to inform travelers that Dalton is a GREAT place to stop, eat and rest. Promoting Dalton as a destination is just one of the goals of the Dalton Visitors Bureau; however, promoting Dalton to interstate travelers is also a big part of what they do. With the busiest travel day of the year approaching (Thanksgiving), the Dalton Visitors Bureau hopes the Interstate Billboard Campaign will lead weary travelers this way, refresh their body and spirits, and help Dalton businesses in the process.
Dalton is certainly a beautiful town, with rich history, great outdoors, unique shops, a moonshine distillery, and plenty of places to eat, or grab some adult beverages. But Dalton’s most distinguishing feature is that the town is located right off Interstate 75, just south of Chattanooga, and around 70 miles north of Atlanta, two major southern destinations. Not only that, but Dalton is on the way to one of the nations most visited states, Florida. It’s estimated that nearly 71,000 people travel on Interstate 75 and pass Dalton every day. That’s an extremely large amount of travelers passing by that many other Georgia towns don’t have access to. Nevertheless, the question remains, why should travelers pull off when they come to exit 333 and not one of the many other exits between Atlanta and Chattanooga?
Dalton’s central location makes it a great place to stop, eat and get some rest. The closer one gets to Atlanta, the more congested it gets. In fact, the congestion can often begin just north of Kennesaw. Being stuck in heavy traffic, trying to get to a place to rest, can be aggravating and stressful. Most travelers, when tired, just want to pull off, find a decent hotel, grab a bite to eat and get some sleep. There are over 1,400 hotel rooms in Dalton and Whitfield County. Dalton has plenty of hotel rooms to accommodate interstate travelers, and top-notch ones at that, like Marriott, Hilton, Holiday Inn and others. These large brand Hotels are certainly a lure to grab the weary traveler. After passing Dalton to Chattanooga, there’s not an excess of hotels until you actually get into the Chattanooga area. This makes Dalton a premier location to stop and get a hotel room when traveling Interstate 75. The lack of Hotel rooms between Chattanooga and Dalton certainly helps Dalton economically because statistically, when people pull off to find a hotel room and after settling in, they realize they’re hungry and start looking for places to eat.
Next to rest, food is probably one of the biggest reasons travelers pull off the interstate. Dalton has a wide variety of dining options that can meet most folk’s needs. Exit 333 has numerous dining options, from fast food, to big brand restaurants, short order places, and everything in between. From College Drive to Tibbs Road, there are over 30 locations for travelers to choose from on exit 333. That is 30 locations, all within a mile of the interstate, and a large variety that many smaller towns along interstate 75 just do not have. In addition, our booming downtown has some great options for the traveler willing to go a few more miles. From Tavern Food and café style to All Natural healthy options, Dalton’s downtown is really the place to spend an hour to fuel up on some good food. Many of the downtown locations also have live entertainment, especially on the weekends, which is when most people travel. One of the goals of the Dalton Visitors Bureau is to promote the Downtown area as a great place to eat, shop and be entertained. Entertainment allows the traveler to connect with a place in a way that simply eating and resting cannot do. It’s easy for a person to pull off the interstate, grab a bite to eat, grab a few Z’s, and move on. But, when there is live entertainment, especially live music mixed in, the traveler gets a taste of the towns spirit, and not just a taste of the food. More and more travelers are traversing into the business districts of many downtown areas. Finding a new place to eat, or to catch some live entertainment is exciting, and with the advent of mobile technology, curious travelers are finding it easier to locate establishments that offer that local flavor.
This Thanksgiving, thousands of people will join the already 71,000 travelers that pass Dalton every day on Interstate 75. Dalton, like always, is ready for their business. Dalton may be world renowned as the Carpet Capital of the world, but the town is so much more than that and has a lot to offer the Interstate traveler. From Dalton’s central location and ease of access, to top-notch hotels, great food variety and live entertainment, Dalton doesn’t just refresh the weary travelers body, but refreshes their spirit as well.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!