BRANSON MO NEWS: Tourism professionals from across the state gathered in Branson at the end of September for the 2017 Governor’s Conference on Tourism.
For three days, attendees heard from guest speakers and experts in the field, attended breakout sessions and networked as they discussed the state of tourism in Missouri.
“We had about 200 attendees,” Dan Lennon, director of the Missouri Division of Tourism (MDT) said. “That’s people from convention and visitors bureaus, vendors and consultants that work with our industry and political leaders and local stakeholders. So it’s been a really good conference.”
Lennon, the former vice president of marketing for the Branson/Lakes Area Chamber of Commerce, also spoke during the conference, giving attendees an update on the MDT’s efforts to market Missouri both domestically and internationally. Lennon also highlighted the historically hight year for Missouri tourism in 2016 and upcoming challenges due to budget shortfalls and restrictions.
“We had a $3 million restriction this year and then going forward into (fiscal year 2018) we’ve had a very serious restriction of almost half of our budget,” Lennon said, referencing cuts from Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens.
Greitens announced the restrictions in July, referencing low tax receipts from 2016 and rising healthcare costs. Of the total $251 million in restrictions, $10 million of the restrictions come from the state’s tourism budget.
According to Lennon, the MDT will work on combining the goals of tourism in Missouri with the administration’s goal of economic development. Working with in the budget restraints, Lennon said there is still around $10.5 million available, just expect to see less advertising on television.
“We’ll be spending in print, in digital, in online and social of all kinds in the nine states surrounding Missouri,” he said. “We’ll be doing that strongly in the spring and a little in the summer …
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