STRICTLY BUSINESS: 'MECHANICAL PEOPLE' POPPING UP IN ST. LOUIS AREA

Visitors to the St. Louis area are seeing human figures stationed on street corners, in shopping malls, and in front of several city halls and businesses.

Everything from a giraffe-headed man to a trio of acrobats to a man made of coins can be found in the displays, reminiscent of the cow art in Chicago of a couple of years ago and in Kansas City right now.

Following a six-month display, the figures -- about 100 of them -- will be auctioned on the Internet in October and November to raise funds for the St. Louis Regional Arts Commission and Focus St. Louis.

Over 400 area designs were submitted for The People Project. To date, 100 figures, created by local artists, students and citizens, have been unveiled.

It was in September that the Arts Commission and Focus St. Louis joined forces to announce this unique temporary public art project. Porter Arneill is director of the project.

Project officials are hopeful The People Project will have the same impact on St. Louis that Chicago's bovine invasion had.

The "Man of Commerce," Commerce's Bank's entry in The People Project, has made its debut in front of the bank's headquarters at 8000 Forsythe in Clayton, Mo.

Commerce Bank, which has branches in the Cape Girardeau area, created the figure made of quarters, dimes, nickels, and pennies and a dollar coin with the help of artist Robin Murez.

The bank is inviting passersby to drop their own coins into the figure's coat pocket.

From the pocket, the donated coins will fall directly into a safe inside it.

Commerce Bank will match up to $10,000 in donations collected between now and the exhibit's September close. The money will be donated to the locals arts community.

Staying longer, spending more

Although Missouri is not one of the top 10 destination states for visitors, more than 35.2 million people visited the Show Me State during the past fiscal year.

The year was a record one for state tourism, according to a recent report, "Economic Impact of Missouri's Tourism and Travel Industry: July 1999-June 2000."

Look at some of the statistics:

* Tourism is now a $12.9 billion industry in the state, up from $12.6 billion a year ago.

* Seventy-one percent of the travelers were from out of state.

* Tourism created more than 211,000 jobs in the state.

* Over $607 million in tax revenues were generated by tourism.

Need more?

The average travel party to Missouri consists of 1.83 people, spending an average of $303.20 per travel party, or $165.90 per person. Both of these numbers are new all-time highs, says Chris Jennings, Missouri's tourism director.

Thousands of visitors flock into the Cape Girardeau area each year. One of the top tourist attractions is the 3,307-acre Trail of Tears State Park, 12 miles north of the city. More than a quarter-million visitors head for the park annually for camping, hiking, picnicking, boating and swimming.

A record year is expected for the Cape Girardeau area.

The Cape Girardeau Convention and Visitors Bureau reported a successful 2000 visitor season and was well over those 2000 visitor totals during first nine months of the current fiscal year. Tour bus bookings bring in more than 4,000 visitors a year, and annual riverboat-docking schedules account for another 4,000-plus visitors, say CVB officials.

The River Explorer, a river barge hotel, has already docked here twice this summer.

The other two "Queens" -- the Delta Queen and Mississippi Queen -- will stop here July, en route to St. Louis, for the final leg of the annual Fourth of July steamboat race from New Orleans to St. Louis.

In Missouri, tourism is the second-largest revenue-producing industry. Nationally, travel and tourism have become America's largest service export, one of the nation's largest employers and America's third-largest retail sales industry, listed only behind automotive dealers and food stores.

Spending up in Illinois

Although high gas prices may be a factor this year, another robust summer travel season is expected for Illinois.

Spending on travel and tourism in Illinois hit a record level of more than $23.5 billion last year.

Domestic travelers to Illinois account for more than 310,000 Illinois jobs that generate $7.2 billion in payroll income. Overall tax revenues generated by domestic tourism were up the past year, to $4.28 billion. Domestic travelers spent nearly $20.4 billion in Illinois last year while the remaining $1.65 billion came from overseas travelers.

B. Ray Owen is a staff writer for the Southeast Missourian.