AAA: A Great Resource for Local Travel
Posted By admin on September 24, 2011
In 1902 nine different motor clubs met on March 4, 1902, in Chicago to form the AAA. Those nine clubs reprensented more than 1,500 individuals who believed that the United States needed safer highways. The AAA published their first road maps in 1905. The map was a hand drawn map of Staten Island, New York. The AAA printed the first transcontinental map in 1912, when Americans owned over a million cars. The original transcontinental map sold for a quarter. That started a trend for the AAA that has expanded to what the AAA has become today. Three years later the organization opened its first emergency road service. Today the AAA contracts with over 13,500 towing facilities assisting over 30,000,000 motorists yearly.
Today the AAA is still locally based, with organizations in each of the fifty states. The AAA today produces more than 90,000,000 maps. The AAA has apps on smart phones, which provide more than 17,000,000 customized trips each year.
In 1926 the AAA produced their first tour guide book funded by the national office. Prior to that many local AAA groups had produced their own tour guide books. Twenty two years later the organization offered its first escorted tour. Since then it has grown to become the largest travel agency in the United States.
The focus of the AAA remains on hiring local people who know the area. They are equipped to help local motorists and often know the people that they are working with.
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