‘Breaking down barriers’ key to tourism growth

If you have never had a chance to hear a speech given by Peter Herschend, co-owner of the famed Silver Dollar City, well, you are missing out.

I had the pleasure to listen to Herschend talk about the economic and cultural benefits of tourism to the state of Missouri, and how Silver Dollar City was at the heart of developing Ozark Mountain Country into the tourist mecca it is today during a tourism conference Thursday afternoon on the campus of Crowder College.
Herschend is an engaging personality. With a little humor and a whole lot of know-how, he was the perfect person to bring to Neosho to help those in attendance — who were from three states in the region — better unify their efforts to attract visitors.

Herschend suggested that the communities work together in this region to rank the top three reasons why someone would visit the tri-state area.

As an example, he said the three main reasons someone visits the Ozarks are: 1) the Ozarks, themselves, with the beauty of the lakes and the mountains; 2) Silver Dollar City, which generates two million visitors each year; 3) the entertainment industry located in Branson, with its variety of shows.

Herschend called those three aspects of the Ozarks the “tourism generators.”

But, there’s more. To go along with the generators are the “attractions,” which he said are just as important to keeping tourists coming back year, after year, after year. Activities like putt-putt golf, Ride the Ducks, the outlet malls and others are all part of the “Ozarks experience.”

“You have to have traffic generators to support the activities,” Herschend said.

Herschend said competition for the traveler is fierce. He said Silver Dollar City management can break down how many travelers visit the park from various areas in the nation, and compare the performance year to year. He said measuring results is very important to tourism growth.

He suggested to those in the tourism industry in attendance to build a picture frame in their minds, and in that picture frame imagine its borders, north to Truman’s birthplace in Lamar, east to the Carver National Monument and the Newtonia Battlefields, south to the beauty of Elk River in McDonald County and west to Grand Lake in Oklahoma.
“Get rid of the county and state lines,” Herschend suggested. “Get rid of the egos that go along with them, and you will come a long way.”

He said a tourist area will only be successful if it can “create memories in a customers’ mind.” He mentioned Silver Dollar City’s mission statement of, “Create memories worth repeating.”

What is exciting is that this region does offer a tourist many memories to repeat. In Newton County alone, we have four amazing sites for visitors to bring their families to, starting with the Wildcat Glades in northwest Newton County, the Carver National Monument near Diamond, the Newtonia Battlefield and the Ritchey Mansion in Newtonia, and, of course, the Neosho National Fish Hatchery, and its soon-to-be opened splendid visitors center right here in the heart of Neosho.

Those four sites are Newton County’s “traffic generators,” and to go along with them is the “Murals of Newton County” program which can take a visitor all over the region — from Seneca to Stella — and offer insight to why we think our region is a beautiful place to call home.

Will the tri-state area ever be Branson? No. I don’t think we want that. What we do want is for Newton County and the tri-state region to continue to improve efforts to bring visitors — and their dollars — to our area in higher numbers year after year. Tourism is big business, and it’s a business our area can ill afford to ignore. Just listen to Peter Herschend, he’ll tell you.

Rick Rogers is the publisher of the Daily News.