Hospitality and Tourism

PUBLISHED AUGUST 2023

Symphonies? Art galleries? Fine dining? Museums? Concerts, theater and dance? Sure, you can find those across Missouri, and at the highest levels in the bigger cities of St. Louis, Kansas City and Springfield. And those attractions do draw people to the state year-round, by the millions.

Consider this, though: It just might be that Missouri’s attraction as a tourism magnet has a lot less to do with high culture than it does with … working up a sweat on a hiking trail. Or getting doused on a JetSki. Or bringing in that prize rainbow trout.

In Missouri, the Great Outdoors really is great. And it’s a key part of the state’s hospitality and tourism industry.

For the more sophisticated traveler, return to those arts and dining venues for a moment. They also include terrific shopping options, like the Galleria in St. Louis or the Country Club Plaza in KC. 

Food? You’ll find world-class steaks and ribs, of course, but also fresh seafood and an almost unlimited diversity of restaurants serving Mediterranean and Northern European cuisines, foods that came north from Central and South America, and the best of what dozens of Asian nations have to offer.

Missouri’s burgeoning wine industry offers enough variety to fill an entire vacation with tours (ditto on the expansion of small breweries and distilleries). There’s hiking, biking, cave exploration—even winter snowshoeing. 

Professional sports don’t get any better than the NFL experience with the Kansas City Chiefs, while St. Louis has the Blues to attract the hockey fans. And both cities have pro baseball with the Cardinals and the Royals. 

More than three dozen state parks beckon the camping enthusiast, whether you’re into primitive camping or pulling a 40-foot RV. The Katy Trail is a unique asset running 240 miles over a rail line that has been reclaimed for biking and hiking, tracking closely with the Missouri River as it runs from Kansas City to St. Louis.

And then there’s the fishing. You might say Missouri offers it on a different … scale. For one, the state manages four trout parks that help populate cold-water venues like Lake Taneycomo near Branson. Warmer-water lakes teem with bass, bluegill, catfish—even paddlefish are making a comeback in these waters.

You don’t even have to venture for to find your favorite fishing hole: Roughly 700 urban and suburban lakes dot the state map, and the Missouri Department of Conservation stocks 32 of them for winter trout fishing.

And don’t overlook the golfing. The state is riddled with high-quality, challenging courses where you can get the full 18-hole experience or just polish your driving and putting skills. If you’re looking for PGA-level courses, you can’t do much better than Ozarks National at Big Cedar, another in a long run of Bass Pro Shop founder Johnny Morris’ outdoor-themed attractions.

If family attractions are highest on your list, Morris’ Wonders of Wildlife exhibits in Springfield—one featuring land animals, one aquatic—will fill entire days. Theme parks in Kansas City (Worlds of Fun and Oceans of Fun), Branson (Silver Dollar City) and St. Louis (Six Flags) are immensely popular with parents and kids alike. And before long, you’ll be right next door to a $2 billion Americana-themed expected to open across the state line in Vinita, Okla., by 2026, rivaling Disney World’s Magic Kingdom in scope and size.

Venues like those are just scratching the surface of what the Show-Me State wants to show you. If you’re coming to visit to see what the state has to offer, you’d better clear your calendar. This will take a while …