Every Dollar Counts: Local Tourism Leaders Question Tour's Payoff for Taxpayers

At a meeting of the Missouri Tourism Commission today in Branson, a number of local tourism officials questioned the value to taxpayers for bring the Tour of Missouri to their local communities. While Peter Kinder pointed to economic impact estimates from the study he commissioned and paid for with Tour funds, local tourism officials offered markedly different perspectives on the local impacts of the Tour. The News-Leader's Chad Livengood outlines their concerns:

• The CEO of the Springfield Convention & Visitors Bureau: Youth soccer tournaments and the recent PBR bull riding competition at JQH Arena drew more overnight stays than the 2008 Tour of Missouri.

• The CEO of the Branson Lakes Area Chamber of Commerce (who happens to be a Republican donor): The Branson area also did not get a positive economic impact for it’s $70,000-plus investment. "We saw this not as much as a sporting event but a PR campaign" and Branson officials "would have to think long and hard about submitting another bid" to become a host city in 2010.

The Executive Director of the St. Joseph Visitors Bureau and Commission also expressed doubts. The race’s economic impact to host cities wasn’t worth the cost, she said. "It’s just a whole lot of work for 15 minutes."

As Livengood outlines, local communities often have to raise their own funds to lodge the cyclists, and "cities also supply in-kind police, fire and public works employees to close roads and prepare the race route." In Springfield, for example, the city "committed about 110 police officers plus several firefighters and public works employees for the single day race event...creating an unknown in-kind cost" to taxpayers, the president and CEO of the Springfield Convention & Visitors Bureau said.

Republican State Rep. Maynard Wallace, a member of the Commission, also expressed concern about the cost to local taxpayers that sometimes aren't included in the discussion of how to use state money to fund the race.

Wallace, a Republican member of the tourism commission, said he’s undecided about whether to support future use of state tax dollars for the race.

"I would be curious as to how much other public dollars go into it," Wallace said, referencing the race preparation done by host cities.

Citing his own studies, the Lieutenant Governor always presents the payoff for taxpayers as a no-brainer. If the economic benefits for taxpayers are so obvious, why do these local tourism officials express such doubts?

Image credit: Chillicothe Constitution-Tribune