Missouri Sets New Tourism Records

Missouri’s Governor Jay Nixon announced today that Missouri set new tourism records during the 2016 fiscal year (FY16). Citing an annual report compiled by Tourism Economics, he said Missouri welcomed 41.7 million visitors in FY16, a 3.2 percent increase from the previous record of 40.4 million set in fiscal year 2015.

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.

In addition, the Missouri Department of Revenue and Department of Labor and Industrial Relations report that tourism-related spending in Missouri increased to $13.1 billion in FY16 and direct tourism-related employment increased to 307,937 jobs.

Toda’s announcement comes in addition to previous news that Missouri State Fair attendance increased by 4,000 in 2016 and Missouri state parks and historic sites reporting record guests of more than 19 million for 2016 at last count.