Takin’ it on the road
Published 6:15 pm Friday, May 28, 2021
Discover Summer’s pig VFW rolls out of Car-Nu’s garage Friday morning. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com
Discover Austin’s pig VFW was revealed Friday morning and will travel around the state advertising what Austin has to offer and letting people know that the community can be a destination. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com
Discover Austin’s pig VFW will take what Austin has to offer on the road this summer. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com
Eileen Chao peaks inside the VW pig after its unveiling Friday morning at Car-Nu. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com
Discover Austin’s VW pig will be eyeing people all around the state this summer. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com
|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
Austin tourism is ready to pig out.
On Friday morning, Mower County Commissioner Jeff Baldus pulled a VW Bug, wrapped to look like a pig, out of the Car-Nu garage, a symbol that Discover Austin is ready to hype the community again.
“We decided to do something a little different,” Discover Austin Executive Director Nancy Schnable told a small crowd Friday morning. “Create a showstopper.”
The car, worked on by Car-Nu, is wrapped snout to tail in pink, created for the purpose of traveling the state this summer to announce Austin as a place to visit.
“It draws attention to Austin,” Schnable said.
Schnable said there are 15 stops in June alone, and a maiden voyage to Fairmount this weekend.
“We’ve committed to a wide variety of places where people can gather,” Schnable said.
“We’ve committed to a wide variety of places where people can gather,” Schnable said.
These events will include parades around the state, including right here in Austin for the Fourth of July, where plans are being put in place to have the car named.
People are urged to send ideas to Discover Austin by visiting https://austinmn.com/contact_us/.
Work on the vehicle began last summer and the car was ultimately found this spring.
Tourism in Austin and around the country was extremely damaged by the COVID-19 pandemic. Schnable hopes that by creating a roving promotion, hospitality in Austin can see a return as research has shown people are ready to travel.
“Tourism took a hard hit. It really affected us,” Schnable said. “We’re looking forward to this summer.”
