MEETING TOLD OTHERS ENVY STATE TOURISM

When it comes to tourism, Missouri is the envy of many states, says Debra Hendricks, public information specialist with the Missouri Division of Tourism.

That envy, she said, is due to the growth of the entertainment and music industry at Branson in southwest Missouri. Branson is now considered by many to be a mecca of country music, much like Nashville, Tenn.

Hendricks touted the benefits of tourism in Missouri at an economic development meeting Thursday night at Drury Inn. The event, presented by the Missouri Department of Economic Development, drew about 80 people. Among the audience members were state Reps. Mary Kasten, R-Cape Girardeau, and David Schwab, R-Jackson.

The meeting was held to educate those on hand about the Department of Economic Development, which includes the Division of Tourism. Various department representatives, most of them directors over different areas or programs, spoke for several minutes on what services they could provide toward the Missouri business sector and the state's communities.

Hendricks told the crowd that people ask why tourism falls under economic development. To show why, Hendricks dished out some numbers.

Missouri tourism, she said, is a $6.1 billion industry that pulls in $300 million in general tax revenue. There are 136,000 jobs related to tourism, she said.

"You can't argue with that. That's economic development," she said.

The Division of Tourism, she said, looks at itself as the first step in tourism promotion for Missouri. After that, she said, the cities themselves take over, and from there the individual businesses.

Hendricks said the division even markets Missouri internationally. Foreigners, she said, have already seen the typical American spots of California, Florida, and New York.

"Now they say, `We want to see real America.' We say, `It doesn't get any more real than Missouri.'"

The state, along with the nine other states hugging the Mississippi River, also works to market the river, she said.

"Mark Twain is very big across the ocean. There's a romance to the Mississippi River that we try to capitalize on," said Hendricks.

Mostly, she said, the department gets its advertising message out through television. Lately, she said, the department aired some television commercials with actor John Goodman that proved to be very effective.

Director of Community Programs Dianna Moore said Thursday that the Department of Economic Development has a lot of technical assistance for small and rural communities. For instance, she said the department offers a program to help revitalize main streets areas.

There are 10 pilot main street towns across the state, including Poplar Bluff and Kirkwood, she said. However, Moore said that just because a community isn't one of the state's pilot main street towns, that doesn't mean the Department of Economic Development can't help.

"Just because you aren't one of the main street pilot programs, please don't think that you're out of luck," she said. "We have technical assistance available to you through our main street coordinator."

Bob Black, director of business development, said his department's employees work as sales personnel to sell the state's communities and business climate. "Those are the two things that without those things, we have nothing to do," he said.

Black said his department offers programs to retain, expand, start up and recruit businesses. Businesses are recruited from other countries as well as other states, he said.

The heads of the department's Tokyo, Japan and Seoul, South Korea offices were among the department representatives attending Thursday's meeting, he said.