The Tour of Missouri, planned for September in nine cities throughout the state, stops in Branson Sept 13. The Branson chamber is seeking sponsors for the event.

Chamber begins fund-raising for Tour of Missouri

Carol S. Harris

Posted online June 3, 2007 | 11:00 pm

With less than four months to go before the Tour of Missouri pro cycling race competes in Branson, the Branson/Lakes Area Chamber of Commerce and Convention & Visitors Bureau has begun raising upwards of $70,000 to accommodate 15 teams.

The Branson chamber is a contracting entity for the tour, said Jack Walker, the chamber’s director of tourism development.

Tour of Missouri is the third U.S. pro cycling race to be organized and managed by Atlanta-based Medalist Sports, which also manages the Amgen Tour of California and Tour de Georgia.

“This is the first year it’s here,” Walker said. “It’s going to be an annual event.”

The tour travels through Branson on Sept. 13, about halfway through the nine-city tour Sept. 11–16. The other participating cities are Kansas City, Clinton, Springfield, Lebanon, Columbia, Jefferson City, St. Charles and St. Louis.

Walker said the chamber needs to raise between $70,000 and $75,000 to cover lodging and meals for 200 bicyclers and 400 support staff during the Branson leg of the race. The chamber is seeking a $20,000 presenting sponsor, two $10,000-level sponsors and three $5,000-level sponsors. An unlimited number of sponsors can participate at the $1,500 and $500 levels, and the chamber also will accept in-kind services from motels and restaurants, Walker said.

In addition to signage and advertising opportunities, sponsors will have access to a VIP tent run by the Branson chamber. Walker said food and big-screen TVs to view the race will be inside the tent.

“It is a great opportunity for businesses to get some exposure. It will be a televised event with exposure all the way up to the event,” said Dathan Atchison, chair of the Tour of Missouri Committee for the chamber and general manager of Welk Resort in Branson.

The race will be televised on Versus Network, formerly OLN, which carries the Tour de France every summer, Atchison said.

Atchison, a cycling enthusiast himself, said Tour of Missouri will have 15 teams including at least five foreign teams. None of the teams have been named, but that announcement should come by mid-June along with the specific route in Branson.

Branson is the site of the individual time trials, the big event of the tour. “That’s where you can really separate the group,” Atchison said. “Every cyclist rides the route by themselves. It is a one-on-one battle.”

According to Walker, the cycling tour will attract people the chamber has not been able to reach before. Atchison agreed, noting that in California, the tour attracted 1.5 million spectators, and in Georgia, it generated $26 million in state revenue.

“The return on the investment is just huge. It’s a great opportunity to promote a healthy, active event,” Atchison said. “It exposes us to a little different tourist than in the past. It’s great to show that other side of Branson. The thing that originally attracted the visitors here was the beauty of the area.”

More information is available at www.tourofmissouri.com.[[In-content Ad]]