A
roadside attraction is a feature along the side of a
road meant to attract
tourists. In general, these are places one might stop on the way to somewhere else, rather than being a final or primary destination in and of themselves. They are frequently advertised with
billboards. The modern tourist-oriented highway attraction originated as a
U.S. and
Western Canadian phenomenon in the 1940s to 1960s, and subsequently caught on in
Australia.