Bridging the Tourism Gap: Springfield, Branson work together

It’s no surprise that tourism is the economic engine for the Branson area. Businesses in Stone and Taney counties took in about $1.6 billion in tourism-related revenue in 2006, including $11 million from the city of Branson’s 4 percent tourism tax.

Tourism spending comprises 75 percent of all revenues for businesses in the two counties, according to the Branson/Lakes Area Chamber of Commerce and Convention & Visitors Bureau.

Springfield’s economy is more diverse – about $1.5 million of the city’s $235.9 million in 2006–07 revenue came from the city’s tourism tax.

Greg Williams, economic development director for the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce, said tourism also brings revenue in other categories, such as sales tax and hotel/motel taxes, shedding even more light on the importance of visitors and the money they spend. While Springfield doesn’t track the total amount of tourism-related revenues, Williams said plans are in the works for an in-depth study early next year to gauge that amount.

Williams said that of the more than 7 million visitors to Branson each year, about three quarters – or more than 5 million – pass through Springfield via U.S. Highway 65.

While the two cities are definitely separate markets, Williams said the role Branson plays in bringing visitors to Springfield cannot be ignored.

“When you look at the level of retail sales in this market, which is in excess of $6 billion per year, one would have to identify the tourists and the tourism developments in this community as a significant contributor to that,” Williams said, noting that the amount would average out to about $40,000 per Springfield household.

“Obviously, households in Springfield are not spending $40,000 in retail, so that’s an indicator that a significant amount of spending in this marketplace is done by people visiting this area,” he added.

And the success of Branson, according to Wonders of Wildlife spokesman Gary Ellison, is crucial to Springfield’s tourism success.

“There’s an awful lot of folks that go to Branson that want to stop at Bass Pro Shops, and when they do, we get some of those folks (to) come over to (Wonders of Wildlife),” Ellison said, referring to some of the estimated 4 million people that visit the Springfield Bass Pro Shops annually. “If Branson is healthy, so are we.”

A two-way street

The relationship works both ways. Silver Dollar City Attractions spokeswoman Lisa Rau said the park’s No. 1 market, by far, is Springfield. Through June 24, 320,000 of the park’s approximately 700,000 visitors have come in from Springfield, compared to about 75,000 visitors from the second-largest source market, Ft. Smith-northwest Arkansas.

“Springfield is a critical market to the success of Silver Dollar City,” she said. “It’s a market we seek out, make sure we’re communicating to, responding to, (and) we do a fair amount of focus groups and research where the people involved are from our backyard.”

Dan Lennon, vice president of marketing for the Branson chamber, said there is little overlap between the specialties of the two cities, making competition between them a nonissue.

“We think of southwest Missouri as our neighborhood,” Lennon said. “Just bringing people to this part of the state as opposed to Kansas City or St. Louis is a big thing, so we have that in common.”

Kirk Hansen, public relations director for Fantastic Caverns, said the 150,000 people who visited the caverns in 2006 didn’t just drive to southwest Missouri to “stay in a motel,” adding that Springfield and Branson don’t have to compete against each other.

“Springfield has a variety of things to do, especially compared to other cities our size,” Hanson said. “Some people are making their vacation destination Springfield-Branson. I’m thankful that there are so many other things to do around here.”

City roles

Jerry Adams, Branson’s public information director, said the city plays a key part in developing tourism, particularly in terms of infrastructure.

“What we’re continually striving to do is continue to provide the necessary city services to stay up with the growth in tourism,” Adams said. “The city’s role is to provide an environment for private industry growth.”

One such example of that private growth is Branson Landing, HCW Development’s $420 million multiuse development on Lake Taneycomo, which drew an estimated 4.9 million visitors in its recently completed first year of operation.

The city of Branson helped with that development through its use of tax-increment financing – half of the new sales tax created by the businesses in the district goes to the city, while the rest pays off construction bonds for the project.

According to Adams, the city received about $13 million in sales tax last year, to go along with $11 million from the 4 percent tourism tax on hotels and ticketed attractions and the half-percent tourism tax on restaurants.

Williams noted that Springfield also contributes to the regional tourism effort, particularly through the Springfield Convention & Visitors Bureau.

“We wholeheartedly support and encourage tourism, and the CVB does a terrific job of attracting conferences and events,” Williams said, citing as an example the Missouri Governor’s Conference on Economic Development, which Springfield will host in August for the first time since 1996. “There’ll be as many as 1,700 people in Springfield this August for three-plus days. That one conference is going to have a significant impact on the market.”

He added that the city’s hotel-motel tax, which brought in about $1.8 million in fiscal 2005–06, is paid mostly by tourists and funds development efforts in Jordan Valley and Springfield’s center city.

Bringing people to the Ozarks

Tourism-tax revenue, Adams added, is another tool the city uses to sustain momentum – one-quarter of tourism tax money received by the city of Branson goes to the Branson chamber for out-of-market advertising and marketing.

Silver Dollar City’s Rau said that the city’s marketing efforts, which focus on drawing visitors from markets outside a 300-mile radius, complement the parks’ marketing efforts, which focus on local consumers.

“It’s critical to bring back your repeat, loyal customers, but it’s also important to grow the (numbers of) first-timers,” Rau said. “Silver Dollar City is very busy 300 miles (and) in, where Branson is (marketing) 300 miles and out. They really work beautifully together.”

Lennon said the Branson chamber focuses on national markets, such as Dallas and Chicago, noting that about 60 percent of all visitors travel more than 300 miles.

“Those people stay longer, and they spend more money,” Lennon said. “In addition, people inside 100 miles don’t stay overnight as much.”

While Branson continually tries to draw in fresh new attractions and shows, Springfield’s tourism heavy hitters have remained relatively unchanged in recent years – the chamber’s Williams points to Bass Pro Shops, Fantastic Caverns, Wonders of Wildlife and the Springfield Cardinals as the biggest draws.

Another tourist stop, Exotic Animal Paradise near Strafford, was supposed to close in October 2006, but reopened under new ownership.

WOW’s Ellison said “different and traveling exhibits” are key for attracting repeat customers.