City's tourism investments place priority on CVB hire

In the past 10 years or so, the city of Cape Girardeau has placed major emphasis and investment on and in tourism.

The list of destinations added to the city's repertoire is impressive:

• The Isle Casino
• The River Campus
• A water park, with the addition of new slides this year
• A children's museum
• The Lazy L Safari Park

This is in addition to other museums and attractions already in place, such as Show Me Center, the Red House Interpretive Center, area golf courses, the Cape River Heritage Museum, Southeast Missouri State University events, the Conservation Nature Center, the popular floodwall murals and the riverfront park. The list goes on.

Recently, city leaders have worked through plans on two other major projects that will bring thousands more to the city: a sports complex that will attract indoor sports tournaments year around, and a conference center. Both are public/private partnerships.

All of these attractions contribute to tax revenue that goes to the city, and several of them are supported by taxes as well.

With this great emphasis in the past several years to bring attractions in, and all of the public involvement, it highlights the importance of finding the right person for the next director of the Convention and Visitors Bureau.

As recently reported in the Southeast Missourian, Chuck Martin will be leaving his director post after 13 years. He is stepping down to take a position as executive director of the Missouri Travel Council.

Martin's successor will have an opportunity to see Cape's tourism reach new levels. The CVB, in part, is in charge of marketing the city's attractions and facilities. The Chamber of Commerce operates the CVB on a contractual basis for the city. Sports recruitment has been a major emphasis in recent years, and that will grow once the sports complex is built. The ability to help recruit conferences will be key in helping make sure taxpayers get the most out of the city's investment.

Visitors to Cape Girardeau help make Cape Girardeau the thriving hub it is today.

The new CVB director will play a huge role in bringing people and dollars to the city. Finding the right person will be critical to maximizing Cape Girardeau's potential as a destination.