MAXWELL SAYS DON'T SCRAP THE VACATION

Don't scrap the summer vacation because of high fuel prices.

Missouri Lt. Gov. Joe Maxwell delivered that message at a news conference at the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport Wednesday, his final stop on a six-city fly-around to officially kick off the summer tourism season.

Maxwell, who serves on the Missouri Tourism Commission, said high gasoline prices could keep away tourists from other states.

The cost of gasoline is up an average 24 cents a gallon from a year ago in Missouri. In Cape Girardeau, a gallon of gas costs over $1.45 a gallon. The price is even higher in other parts of the state.

In response to high gasoline prices, Maxwell said the state Division of Tourism plans to market Missouri to its own residents in an effort to get them to vacation at home.

"Look out your back door and vacation in Missouri," Maxwell said.

The lieutenant governor said his message is timely because the summer vacation season officially starts this weekend with the Memorial Day holiday.

Maxwell expects most Missourians will stay close to home this weekend because children are still in school or just getting out of school.

Tourism Web site

The Division of Tourism recently unveiled a Web site to help people plan for a Missouri vacation.

Maxwell said tourism is important to the state's economy. It is a nearly $13 billion industry in the Show-Me State, accounting for one of every 14 jobs in the state. More than 35 million people visited Missouri in fiscal 2000, an all-time record for the state, Maxwell said.

The tourism industry employs 11,600 people in Cape Girardeau County, he said.

Terri Clark-Bauer, director of the Cape Girardeau Convention and Visitors Bureau, was one of several local officials who greeted Maxwell at the airport.

Clark-Bauer said her office has seen an 8 percent increase in the number of tourists who have signed the register at the Convention and Visitors Bureau this year. Last month alone, there were 294 registrations compared to 109 in April 2000.

Clark-Bauer said high prices at the pump won't keep vacationers away.

"People are going to travel. They may alter their plans to take shorter trips, but shorter trips aren't necessarily a bad thing," she said.