SPENDING BY TRAVELERS IN MISSOURI RISES

Spending by travelers in Missouri increased by 4 percent last year in spite of record flooding in the state during the summer of 1993.

Tourism is surpassed only by the general category of manufacturing as the largest revenue-producing industry in Missouri, and in 1993 the tourism-travel industry contributed more than $14.1 billion to the state's economy.

According to a recent study conducted for the Missouri Division of Tourism, traveler spending was up a half-billion dollars, to $9.1 billion, over the 1992 total of $8.6 billion.

Traveler spending also generated more than $3.2 billion in federal, state and local tax revenues in 1993. Over half, $1.8 billion, was federal tax revenue, with $471 million going to county and municipal governments and $888 million in state taxes.

"Tourism, travel, conventions, escorted tours and other events are important to the state," said Majorie Beenders, Missouri tourism director. "The fact that tourism grew during a year dominated by coverage of the flooding says a lot about the strength of our travel industry. A lot of credit goes to the industry for letting travelers know Missouri was still `open for business' in 1993."

The latest report on the economic impact of travel in Missouri, conducted by Certec Inc., a Frankfort, Ky., company that specializes in tourism research, said purchases made by travelers represented a growth of 3.7 percent in direct spending after adjusting for inflation.

The remaining $5 billion came from the "multiplier effect" triggered by the spending.

The report showed more than 261,000 jobs in Missouri generated by the tourism industry. This total represents 10 percent of all jobs in the state. Jobs directly generated by the industry, 187,450, however, were down 7 percent from 1992.

"This decrease reflects the structural changes occurring throughout the U.S. economy," said James Carr, president of Certec Inc. "Employers are operating their businesses with fewer employees. Missouri is also experiencing this employment trend."

The total wage-salary income generated by tourism in 1993 was $3.9 billion, including the multiplier effect. Every dollar spent by travelers in Missouri produced an average of 27.6 cents in wage-salary income.

Travel spending creates widespread benefits for Missouri. A national survey by the Travel Industry Association of America says almost three-fourths of U.S. travelers expect to travel for pleasure each year. The travelers, noted the survey, will spend an average of $990 per trip.

Although service and retail sectors receive the lion's share of the dollars generated, manufacturing is the next largest recipient. One of $7 generated by tourism ended up creating manufacturing output and jobs.

The report also said jobs created by tourism cover a broad range of specialities. In addition to service sector jobs, nearly two of five jobs resulting from tourism spending are in high-wage occupations -- professional, technical, managerial, sales, construction and craftsman.

Missouri has more than 1,700 accommodation facilities that provide more than 85,000 rooms, with three of the 10 tourism regions -- St. Louis, Ozark Mountains and Kansas City -- accounting for 70 percent of the rooms.

Cape Girardeau, in the River Heritage Region, has added a number of hotel rooms the past year, and additional motels are under construction or on the drawing boards.

Missouri offers more than 700 attractions to travelers, including historic sites, theme parks, music shows, caves, theaters, rafting-canoeing, professional sports and a variety of other facilities. The state also has 381 campgrounds, with a total of 26,450 campsites. Add to this list 84 state parks and state historic sites, and the reasons are evident for tourism increases.

Branson is a top tourist boom towns in Missouri, although attendance was down a bit in 1994.

Branson, home of a major tourist attraction in Silver Dollar City and more than 30 music theaters with big-name entertainment, attracted 4 million visitors from March through October, down 3 percent from the 4.1 million during the same period in 1993.