LETTERS TO THE EDITOR: GAMBLING PROMOTES TOURISM

To the Editor:

Branson has put Missouri on the map as a major player in the highly competitive world of tourism and recreation. Now the state has the opportunity to take advantage to two of its great but generally neglected natural resources, the Missouri and Mississippi rivers, by adding colorful and exciting riverboat gaming.

Kansas City and St. Louis and several smaller nearby communities have had the foresight to jump on the bandwagon. Obviously they are acutely aware of the economic opportunities that will follow in the wake of this major expansion of one of the nation's cleanest and most viable industries tourism/recreation. Will Cape Girardeau, pardon the pun, follow suit? An intransigent, pious group of anti-everything if it means change managed to defeat the question at the polls last summer. It will take a concerted effort by progressive-thinking residents to pass the measure this time, but it would be tragic to let this opportunity fall to some other community.

If the measure to allow a casino boat to dock in Cape fails this time, we can expect Scott City or Caruthersville to become the destination points for tourists visiting or passing through Southeast Missouri. Caruthersville has already approved a boat, and Scott County is likely to pass the question regardless of what Cape does. But the gaming companies aren't likely to locate a boat in Scott City unless the measure fails in Cape.

Others have already written about the economic benefits that will accrue if the boat is allowed to dock here, but I doubt that any of us has a true grasp of the impact that might actually occur. Cape already has a number of amenities to attract visitors employment opportunities, recreation, the medical complex, the restaurants and bars, the downtown, the mall and shopping centers, the Show-Me Center, etc. We already have a few tourist attractions, including the wild animal tour north of Cape and Black Forest at certain times of the year.

But I suspect the entrepreneurs will find unlimited possibilities for expansion of the recreation opportunities, as well they should. Tour buses will bring hundreds of thousands of at least moderately well-to-do, middle-aged visitors into the communities. As has been proved elsewhere, they want to do many more things than merely take a ride on a riverboat shop, visit historic downtowns, old houses, antique shops, restaurants, museums and so on.

This is a golden opportunity.

John A. Heuer

Cape Girardeau