Table Rock Lake Archives

Missouri receives $15 million in CARES Act funding to help rebuild tourism industry

July 16, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

Missouri’s governor announced $15 million in grant funding on Thursday to help rebuild Missouri’s tourism industry, which has been hammered by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Missouri Tourism Director Stephen Foutes briefs Capitol reporters in Jefferson City on July 16, 2020 (photo courtesy of the governor’s Flickr page)

The state Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) says Missouri has seen 30,422 confirmed coronavirus cases, along with 1,113 deaths.

State Department of Economic Development (DED) Director Rob Dixon tells Capitol reporters in Jefferson City that the grant funding will help the tourism industry make attractions safer.

“So many Missouri destinations and businesses are working hard to stay open, to support the countless jobs that depend on this industry, while protecting the safety of their workers and their customers,” Dixon says.

Under the program announced Thursday by Governor Mike Parson, $15 million in CARES Act funding will be designated for destination marketing organizations, which are entities that promote Missouri as a place to visit. The money can be used for things such as payroll relief and reimbursement for safety equipment.

State Tourism Director Stephen Foutes says the funding will also provide enhanced safety efforts for events.

“Qualified DMOs can apply to have costs associated with things such as temperature screenings at events or event facilities offset through this program,” says Foutes.

Foutes says conventions are non-existent now in many Missouri communities, because of COVID. Dixon says about 58,000 Missouri food service workers lost their jobs between March and June, because of the pandemic.

Missouri’s tourism industry generated about $14 billion in 2019.

During the media briefing, Missourinet asked Director Dixon about the pandemic’s impact on the vacation town of Branson, which is in southwest Missouri. Dixon says tourism in the Branson area has dropped significantly from COVID-19, in both Stone and Taney counties.

“We’ve seen early on that in particular higher unemployment rates and things like that than the rest of the state, and that kind of follows trends around the world, around the country in particular, of where those effects are seen,” Dixon says.

Before COVID, millions of people visited Branson annually. The town has about 57,000 theater seats, and anglers from across the Midwest fish for bass and crappie on Table Rock Lake.

As for Governor Parson, he praises the grant funding and says this is a great time to support local communities through tourism. DHSS Director Dr. Randall Williams agrees and emphasizes the importance of social distancing, wearing a mask and washing your hands.

Missouri’s Hawley: It’s time for the Coast Guard to act on duck boats (AUDIO/VIDEO)

May 28, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

Missouri’s junior senator says the deadly 2018 duck boat tragedy which killed 17 victims on southwest Missouri’s Table Rock Lake should never have occurred.

Missouri State Highway Patrol crews assist the U.S. Coast Guard during the duck boat recovery efforts on July 23, 2018 (file photo courtesy of the Missouri State Highway Patrol’s Twitter page)

U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley (R) tells Missourinet that the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) made several recommendations to the U.S. Coast Guard after a similar 1999 tragedy in Hot Springs, Arkansas.

“If the Coast Guard had implemented the NTSB’s recommendations from the late 1990’s, almost 20 years ago now, 20 years from the time of the accident, then this (Table Rock Lake incident) would not have happened,” Hawley says.

The 1999 Arkansas incident killed 13 of the 21 passengers on board.

Senator Hawley has filed legislation that would require amphibious passenger vessels to be equipped to stay afloat, in the event of flooding. His bill would also require additional life preservers, and would require duck boats to remove canopies. It also requires additional ways to pump water out.

Hawley, who serves on the Senate Armed Services Committee, says it’s time for the Coast Guard to act on the issue of duck boats. He says it’s critical to keeping Missourians and others safe.

“Over a year ago, I introduced legislation that would write these requirements and these protections into law,” says Hawley. “It is time for the Senate to act on that legislation, and I hope that they will.”

Hawley’s legislation is similar to one filed by former U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill (D). Hawley unseated McCaskill in Missouri’s 2018 Senate election.

Hawley’s letter to Coast Guard Admiral Karl Schultz reads, in part: “It is in your power to ensure ‘duck boat’ is not synonymous with ‘floating metal death trap.’

17 victims died in the Table Rock Lake incident, including nine from one family. The victims drowned when the vessel sank quickly, during a storm.

Click here to listen to the full interview between Brian Hauswirth and U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley, which was recorded on May 21, 2020: