SALEM MULLS TOURISM RADIO

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, January 26, 1993                   TAG: 9301260374
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-7   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: By DAVID M. POOLE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short
SALEM MULLS TOURISM RADIO
If "Roanoke Tourism Radio" is to take to the airwaves, valley governments will have to foot the bill, Salem City Councilman Howard Packett said Monday.
Packett said there are no state or federal funds available to set up a low-band radio station to lure motorists off Interstate 81 and the Blue Ridge Parkway.
"If we want to do something like this, we'll have to do it ourselves," he said.
Packett recently asked other valley governments to consider setting aside about $35,000 for the radio project in their 1993-94 budgets.
The state recently turned down a Roanoke Valley Convention and Visitors Bureau request to set up a radio band for motorists, he said.
Other localities have been successful using low-band radio to entice motorists to visit local points of interest or attend special events, Packett said.
Roanoke Valley could use the same method to attract a portion of the 25 million or so motorists who pass by each year on I-81 and the parkway, he said.
The radio system would consist of four solar-powered transmitters that would broadcast information that could be updated frequently. The station would carry no paid commercials, to satisfy the National Park Service, which maintains the parkway, Packett said.
Salem City Council agreed to consider funding its share of the radio station during its budget review this spring. The Roanoke County Board of Supervisors also has made tourism radio one of its economic development priorities for the coming year.

by Bhavesh Jinadra by CNB