Tourism continues to increase in Missouri. Governor Jay Nixon stopped at Silver Dollar City to announce that during Fiscal Year 2016, there were 41.7 million visitors in the state--a 3.2 percent increase from the 40.4 million visitors in the previous fiscal year. Those statistics are from the FY16 annual impact report by Tourism Economics, a division of Oxford Economics.
According to Nixon’s office, 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. It says, during Gov. Nixon’s administration, tourism’s total economic impact in Missouri has increased by 34 percent.
Tourism-related spending and employment in Missouri are also up. Tourism-related spending in the state increased to $13.1 billion in FY16, up from $12.4 billion in FY15, according to the Missouri Department of Revenue. Direct tourism-related employment rose to 307,937 jobs from 297,129 the previous year.
The governor credits the awarding of $25.6 million in matching grants to local destination marketing organizations by the Missouri Division of Tourism during his time as governor as one reason tourism has increased.
Nixon said Missouri State Parks saw record guests in 2016. At last count, more than 19.2 million guests visited state parks and historic sites.
