Branson theaters, eateries grow ninefold

Pete Herschend, vice chairman of the board of Herschend Family Entertainment Corp., remembers there was less of Highway 76. It was just two lanes, and alongside a portion of it, near White Water and the Jim Stafford Theater, sat a small airport with a grass landing strip.

“The control tower for ‘Branson International’ was an unoccupied log cabin. That’s it. I’m not even sure if it had electricity,” Herschend said, laughing.

Much has changed in Branson since 1980, when tourists had six theaters to choose from – Presleys’ Country Jubilee, Baldknobbers Jamboree, Foggy River Boys, Plummer Family, Country Hoe Down and Corn Crib Theatre.

Others followed, and 46 theaters with 55,967 seats are now sprinkled throughout the 19-square-mile town.

In 1980, 43 restaurants were open for business. Today, there are 408 restaurants seating 35,056 diners, and 201 lodging facilities with more than 17,000 rooms to accommodate the 7 million visitors who come to town each year.

Perception

Coverage on “60 Minutes” in December 1991 helped fuel the growth.

“The 1992 new visitor count is widely acknowledged as having resulted from this program’s impact,” said Jennifer McCullough, director of public relations for Branson Lakes Area Chamber of Commerce and Convention & Visitors Bureau. First-time visitors as a percentage of total visitors was 52.9 percent for 1992, compared to 40.2 percent for 1991.

“It took us from that local ‘my kind of place,’ ‘we’ve got our own best kept secret,’ to national standing,” Herschend said.

Still Branson struggles with its image.

“When you get farther away from Branson, a lot of our image hasn’t changed,” said Presley, who also is chairman of Missouri Tourism Commission. “It’s just a lot of those old stereotypes – the traffic’s terrible, it’s older tourism-type places and not modern and cool and hip. But we continue. When we’re able to have enough money to market to bring folks in here, we convince them.”

Stumbling blocks

A need for housing is one of Branson’s stumbling blocks as it grows. “But that can be blamed on the topography of Branson. We are so hilly that it’s difficult finding 25 acres of flat land on which to build a subdivision,” said Jerry Adams, Branson’s public information officer.

Furthermore, more than 70 percent of Branson is commercially zoned.

In 1980, Branson’s population was 2,550. In 1990 it reached 3,706, and today Branson has 7,500 residents.

Finding workers – and housing for those workers and their families – concerns Herschend.

Branson Landing and Branson Hills, now under construction, “will have a marked effect on availability of employment and availability of employees,” he said. “That’s a significant problem. I’ve not heard a good solution. Over time, it will solve itself, but it won’t be because somebody put an ad in the paper.”

Presley echoed his concerns. “A lot of great minds across the community have worked hard to think of an answer. We have a real housing problem here,” she said.

“You don’t have places to live and, therefore, you don’t have workers.”

The future

Herschend feels that the region’s future depends on two things – retaining its family values and protecting the environment. “If Branson were to become just a world of strip shopping centers, it would lose part of that intrinsic charm,” he said.

Continuing to market Branson is vital, Presley said. “We absolutely have to have more visitors in here to allow all these new and existing businesses to make a living. We’re looking at options for that, but there are hundreds of other destinations that are sending out advertising and attempting to lure vacationers to their area. We have to be out there competing. In some degree, it’s a war and it’s important for Branson and all the folks involved that we win the war and have people here.”

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