Missouri Department of Tourism gears up for new marketing campaign

Saturday, June 19, 2021
Director of the Missouri Division of Tourism Stephen Foutes recently gave a presentation at the Nevada/Vernon County Chamber of Commerce luncheon speaking about the anticipated trajectory of tourism in Missouri.
Photo by Sarah Haney | Daily Mail Editor

With much of the country opening back up after more than a year of restricted traveling due to the COVID-19 global pandemic, many Missouri business owners are eager for tourism in the state to pick back up. Director of the Missouri Division of Tourism Stephen Foutes recently gave a presentation at the Nevada/Vernon County Chamber of Commerce luncheon speaking about the anticipated trajectory of tourism in Missouri.

The COVID-19 pandemic reached Missouri with the first case reported in early February 2020. Significant drops in demand began in March with visitors either restricted from travel or unwilling to travel. Through December 2020, estimated lost visitor spending in Missouri totaled $6.6 billion. As far as Missouri lodging losses, they totaled $1.04 billion in 2020 as compared to 2019. Would-be travelers stayed home and declines in visitor spending resulted in fewer jobs. In the broad Leisure and Hospitality supersector, employment had lost about 130,000 jobs — roughly half of February's level — by April. By the end of 2020, there had been a rebound, but nearly 60,000 jobs were yet to be recovered.

As travel restrictions and low traveler sentiment remained widespread throughout 2020, visitation fell in Missouri from 43.5 million in 2019 to a record low of 28.2 million in 2020 — the lowest recorded visitation as far back as Missouri Department of Tourism (MDT) research team has records (1995).

Losses in travel and tourism translated into a 45.3 percent drop in tax revenues from the prior year. Nearly $683 million in state and local taxes were lost. The MDT responded with a shift in tactics. They recognized that consumer sentiment is changing and becoming more diverse. The interim campaign focuses on building awareness, virtual experiences, and surprise and delight.

Foutes, a lifelong Missourian, had previously worked in the newspaper industry for 10 years. The Nevada Daily Mail asked him about the value he saw in print media. "I believe there is always going to be a market for the print media," stated Foutes. "We produce about 250,000 of our state travel guides every year — that is the largest print marketing piece we have. We do some statewide marketing in print publications that deliver to a statewide audience, so again, there is a market for the print industry and I think a lot of people really enjoy having something in their hands. It's one thing to look up things on your phone and be able to scroll things quickly, but there's another aspect that really having that physical something in your hand."

Many of the markets MDT is advertising in are states that border Missouri. The Nevada Daily Mail inquired why there wasn't more marketing being done in the coastal states. "Missouri has long been a drive market and we recognize that," responded Foutes. "We're in a unique position. Missouri and Tennesse are the only states that touch eight other states. A big chunk of the U.S. population is within a day's drive of Missouri. Those markets that we are in have proven over time to give us a pretty good return on our marketing investment. That's where the bulk of our travel is coming from. We do see some travel from the coasts — you see travel from virtually every state — but, we know the states that are moving the needle the most are those contiguous states. The state of Texas we're starting to see more and more folks coming up from Texas."

With the previous year being a record breaking low for tourism due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Foutes is optimistic for the future. "One of the big things we look at every year is visitor related spending, or tourism related spending, and I certainly believe we're going to see an uptick in that," he noted. "The latest data that I showed saw that in March tourism related spending increased by about 26 percent as compared to the previous year — March of 2020. That equated to about $220 to $230 million in tourism spending. I think we're going to see that trend continue to increase and I think that the summer months are going to be very busy here in Missouri and our travel economy is really going to be strong."

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