A recent report showed Missouri set records for tourism in Fiscal Year 2016, and it seems Sedalia tourism is also continuing to increase.
According to a news release from Gov. Jay Nixon’s office, Missouri welcomed 41.7 million visitors in 2016, a 3.2 percent increase from the previous record of 40.4 million in Fiscal Year 2015, citing figures from the FY16 annual impact report by Tourism Economics, a division of Oxford Economics.
Like Missouri as a whole, Sedalia Convention and Visitors Bureau Director Carolyn Crooker said tourism in Sedalia continues to increase and improve. Tourism revenue was roughly $66 million in Sedalia in 2016, up from about $64.7 million in 2015, according to the 17 Pettis County Standard Industry Classification (SIC) codes, Crooker said. Revenue from the Pettis County lodging tax also increased from 2015 to 2016 by about $10,000, she added.
“We were up in ‘15 from ‘14, so it’s a good trend. We’re doing something right here,” Crooker said Wednesday.
For Sedalia, one of the biggest tourism events in 2016 was the Missouri Tough Mudder, hosted in October on the Missouri State Fairgrounds. According to a CVB news release, total attendance at the event was 6,222, not including volunteers, staff, event personnel or media guests. That accounted for nearly $1.5 million in economic impact for the city.
“It was a very successful event and on both sides, for Sedalia and for the Tough Mudder because they are coming back again next year, which is a huge perk for us,” Crooker said.
Crooker said CVB is continuing to look toward sports marketing for tourism in Sedalia, especially with the Missouri State Fairgrounds for events ranging from Tough Mudder to rodeos. An area of tourism some people may overlook is private events that bring in new visitors, such as wedding receptions on the fairgrounds, Crooker said.
She also brought up the American Horseman Challenge, which was hosted in Sedalia for the third year in 2016.
“It’s here for several overnights in a week in October. It fills up hotels and restaurants, they eat out,” Crooker said. “I had one actual restaurant owner call me after and ask, ‘what was that group that was here?’ He has two restaurants, he said ‘one of my restaurants brought in $6,000 additional revenue that week.’”
Crooker pointed out that while new events like Tough Mudder are great for new revenue, it’s also important to support longstanding events and organizations, such as Paul Klover Soccer Association, which hosts tournaments most summer weekends.
“One of the long-time things that brings in people is Paul Klover. They’ve been going on for 50 years,” she said. “When it starts, then every weekend they bring in all these traveling teams and we have a wonderful set-up at Clover Dell for soccer.”
The new turf at Liberty Park Stadium will most likely continue to draw additional tournaments and more attendees as State Fair Community College’s new athletic programs use the field, Crooker noted.
Bikers and hikers have a choice where they choose to utilize the Katy Trail across the state, and Crooker said having an Amtrak station in Sedalia is a big help. It allows visitors to drop off their car, ride the train somewhere with their bicycle, then bike back to Sedalia.
“The Katy Trail has a lot of people that come through it, they come in pretty quietly,” Crooker said. “They don’t come in huge groups, however, we do have one that’s called Road Scholars and they come through about six times a year with anywhere from 30 to 40 rooms downtown at Hotel Bothwell. Six times a year, that’s pretty good business and it’s because of our Katy Trail. It would behoove us if as soon as it’s possible to have the Katy Trail connect.”
Crooker is a member of the Missouri Travel Council, a private sector for the Missouri Division of Tourism. One of the joint efforts of those groups is Small Markets, and Crooker said the group is working to create historic downtown tour packages.
“Small Markets, we’re developing a new historic downtowns (tour) and we’re putting it together to promote to group tours that bring these motor-coaches full of people,” Crooker said. “That is something that’s going to be in the works for next year is to develop a tour package.”
Overall, the tourism industry had a $16.5 billion economic impact on Missouri in FY16, up from $15.9 billion in the previous fiscal year, according to a news release.
The release also states that tourism-related spending in Missouri increased to $13.1 billion in FY16, up from $12.4 billion the previous fiscal year, according to the Missouri Department of Revenue. Missouri State Parks also saw record guests in 2016 with, at last count, more than 19.2 million guests visiting state parks and historic sites.
