Dallas-bound travelers dominate Ozarks skies

by Karen E. Culp

SBJ Staff

Members of the Springfield-Branson Regional Airport Board received a study of passengers departing the local airport at the board's Dec. 16 meeting. This is the second such study prepared by graduate students in the marketing department at Southwest Missouri State University; the last survey was presented last spring.

The graduate students prepared the study by interviewing departing adult passengers during one week in the fall. A total of 864 interviews were returned. The departing passengers came from Springfield, southwest Missouri and outside the area, with the largest number coming from outside the area (470). Springfieldians made up 251 of the respondents, and southwest Missourians who came from outside Springfield numbered 143.

Overall, the results of this survey were similar to those of the last survey, conducted in spring of 1998, said Cheryl Stillwell, the graduate student who presented the report. The most common destinations for all departing passengers were the south Atlantic, west south central, and Pacific regions of the country.

Of the Springfield and southwest Missouri passengers, 19 percent were going to the south Atlantic as their final destination and 20 percent were going to the west south central region. Most of those fliers were going to Dallas, Texas, as their final destination, Stillwell said.

Nearly half of the departing passengers, 48 percent, are traveling for business, while only 15 percent are traveling for vacation, according to the survey. The number of vacation travelers was higher in the spring survey, at 29 percent. Of the Springfield passengers surveyed, 58 percent were traveling on business.

Those surveyed were spending an average of three nights in the Springfield area, the survey showed, and those who were going to Branson, 124 of those surveyed, stayed an average of six nights.

Some of the 470 passengers who came from outside Springfield visited Bass Pro Shops and Branson. Of that 470, 37 percent went to Branson and 25 percent to Bass Pro. The percentage going to Bass Pro was the same as it was in the spring, but the number of visitors to Branson decreased by 14 percent from the spring survey's total of 51 percent, the survey reported.

The conclusions reached by the researcher were that there is no typical passenger for the Springfield-Branson Regional Airport, and the airport should focus on business-to-business marketing. The airport should also study the feasibility of more cargo carriers, Stillwell said.

Board President Barbara Nattinger said the results of the survey were encouraging, and the business-to-business marketing component was germane to what the airport is now working on.

"We are starting campaigns that are aimed at chamber members, asking them to check Springfield fares first. Many of them are finding that they can fly competitively out of this market," Nattinger said.

The airport's overall strategy of helping develop the Springfield area's economy is also reflected in the report, Nattinger said.

"What we do is not just about landing planes; it's about economic development for the entire region. With our move toward a new intermodal transportation facility and more cargo space, we can see that happening," Nattinger said.

City Manager Tom Finnie said he has long been a proponent of the airport's expanding its focus from simply taking planes in and out to a broad, community-based approach to service. The intermodal transportation facility, which will allow tour buses and other large ground transportation vehicles to pick up or drop off people or goods, is one way the airport has focused its attention on how the region has developed.

"That they recognize the need to integrate something like that shows they're heading in the right direction. The current board has recognized the need to have a place for tour bus operations and to integrate that into their operation," Finnie said.

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Airline passengers line up for check-in at Springfield-Branson Regional Airport.[[In-content Ad]]