LANDING AIMED AT ATTRACTING NEW BREED OF BRANSON TOURIST

BRANSON, Mo. -- The 75-to-80-acre Branson Landing excites tourism officials because it should attract a different breed of tourist to the city.

The $300 million project includes a convention center and arena that will seat 10,000. Other components included or proposed are a town square, an exhibition hall, a 350-room hotel, a marina and 900-space parking garage, condos and residential lots, a $180 million monorail system, a boardwalk alongside Lake Taneycomo and upscale commercial development.

"It will mean a marked difference in the type of people who come to Branson," says Claudia Vecchio of the Branson Convention and Visitors Bureau.

The retail establishments, bistros and the boardwalk by the lake along with landscaping and lighting that echo the River Walk in San Antonio are part of this package.

Baby Boomers form the core of these new tourists being targeted and require a different approach than the tourists of previous generations. "Baby Boomers when they're 30 will have the same values as when they're 60," Vecchio says.

"Mentally they're very different. With Boomers, you're not going to have group travel. They're not going to live in Sun City."

The Branson Board of Aldermen gave Branson Landing the go-ahead in June. Now the developers must sell $100 million in industrial development bonds to finance phase one.