CVB Travel: CVB honors millionth Springfield visitor

Susan Wade is the public relations manager with the Springfield Convention & Visitors Bureau.

When Kevin Gauthier and his family opened the door at the Tourist Information Center in Springfield about 4 p.m. July 16, their eyes got big and they almost turned around to walk out.

That's probably how most people would react when confronted by more than 30 people with party noisemakers, confetti guns and media crews.

That is, until they're greeted with shouts of, "Come on in! You're our 1 millionth visitor!"

Their expressions quickly changed to big grins as CVB Executive Director Tracy Kimberlin handed them a basket filled with gift certificates and prizes in honor of the distinction of being the center's 1 millionth visitor.

Gauthier, his fiance, Laura Henderson, and her son, 5-year-old Nicolas Henderson, originally from Atlanta, Ga., just moved to Missouri.

They had, in fact, just unpacked that morning at their new home in Ozark. Gauthier moved to the area for a job at Bass Pro corporate headquarters.

The CVB has counted visitors an average of about 71,500 annually since April 1, 1990, when it began operating the Tourist Information Center at 3315 E. Battlefield.

"Reaching the milestone of serving the 1 millionth visitor was exciting, especially since it happened just a few months after we remodeled the Tourist Information Center," said Kimberlin.

After Convention and Visitors Bureau offices moved to the Jordan Valley Car Park in February, the Tourist Information Center remodeling project updated the look of the center and more than doubled the space available for information displays and kiosks.

The bureau also operates information centers at the Springfield-Branson Regional Airport and at its new offices downtown.

The bureau is able to operate the information centers largely because more than 90 volunteers annually donate thousands of hours to the CVB.

Besides greeting and helping tourists, volunteers provide a variety of services to the bureau including preparing packets for people who request information about Springfield, bulk mailings and just about anything else they're asked to do.

Volunteers, in fact, donated more than 9,100 hours to the bureau in 2003.

"We couldn't operate without our volunteers," Kimberlin said. "They are an incredible asset to the Convention and Visitors Bureau."

Operating tourist information centers is just one small part of what the Convention and Visitors Bureau does. The bureau has a contract with the city to serve as Springfield's primary marketing agency to boost the economy through growth in travel and tourism.

That's done through a variety of tactics. Bureau sales staff work to bring conventions, meetings, sports and other group events to Springfield. The communications department places advertising and works to get positive publicity in national and regional media to entice visitors to visit.

The communications department also produces a variety of publications visitor guides, coupons, sports facility manuals, convention sales manuals, group tour manuals and others for distribution to visitors and potential visitors.

The administrative department maintains the bureau's Web site at www.spring fieldmo.org and answers phone inquiries from people calling for information about the area and provides assistance to other departments.

"Travel and tourism is one of the top industries in this area, and thousands of people have jobs because of it," Kimberlin said. "Our job is to make sure the industry remains strong and grows."