The Library Means Business: Library provides vital information for vacation planning

The last thing you want to think about on your vacation is business. But tourism and the vacation industry is business, big business.

So see if you can make use of some of these books and Web sites, available at the Springfield-Greene County Library, to plan your family vacation.

Books @ The Library

Perhaps you've looked at an item and tried to visualize the factory and process that turned it out. "Watch It Made in the U.S.A.: A Visitor's Guide to the Companies that Make Your Favorite Products" by Karen Axelrod, guides travelers to more than 290 factories. This book offers all the practical information needed to select and locate tours near your vacation destinations or near home. Some judicious choices actually can provide fun for the whole family.

Branson tourism really began more than a century ago. People from the urban Midwest and even farther away many of them drawn by a Harold Bell Wright novel that they had read came to the Ozarks for relaxation and regeneration.

"Shepherd of the Hills Country: Tourism Transforms the Ozarks, 1880s-1930s" by Lynn Morrow traces the formative influence of commercial tourism. While this process brought capital, new commerce and additional residents, it also meant that the original residents and their way of life would undergo wrenching and complete change.

"Powder Burn: Arson, Money and Mystery on Vail Mountain" by Daniel Glick mingles elements of business, ecology and whodunit. The conflicting interests of the tourist industry, its clientele, locals and environmentalists reach a literal ignition point.

Compromise and conflict resolution are overwhelmed by a rising tide of confrontation. Commercial development of other scenic, but previously undeveloped, areas could present the same sort of perverse dynamic.

Pertinent Web sites

travel.discovery.com/ideas/wbestlst/kidfctour/kidfctour1.html

The Discovery and Travel channels bring you what they consider to be the best kid-oriented United States factory tours. Here's betting the grownups find them educational and entertaining too. "#1 World's Best" is the Crayola factory in Easton, Pa.

www.tours.com

Find tours centered around everything from dog sledding to ghosts. Easy-to-navigate links for travel statistics and trends, a travel glossary ("bilge" is an important term to understand if you're planning to take a cruise) and visitors' bureaus, both foreign and domestic.

www.visitmo.com/index.cfm

Tourism, one of Missouri's top three revenue producing industries, has become one of the state's most profitable renewable resources. After all, there's virtually no depletion of "inventory" due to repeated sales. Choose the "site map" link at the bottom of the page for easiest browsing and navigation.