New Tourism Chief Aims For Greater Emphasis On Travel Within Missouri

Missouri’s new tourism chief says his agency is trying to ride out the economic slump. For years people in the tourism and recreation industries have felt people will not give up leisure time activities, even if money is a littletight. So, that means the State Tourism Division is doing some refocusing and is urging Missourians to vacation at home and urging people from surrounding states to travel a little bit – to Missouri. Tourism Director John Robinson says the last year has been a wakeup call for the Missouri travel industry. He won’t go so far as to say tourism is the answer to depressed state and local economies but Robinson says it is a powerful tool that can help. He says a fall tourism campaign will begin in a few days, focusing on specific road trips. He says the campaign is designed to emphasize that getting there is half the fun – in Missouri.