Stephen Foutes, director of the Missouri Department of Tourism

The state of Missouri is often not the first priority of people traveling to the United States. Because many visitors choose to focus on the east or west coasts, the center of the country is often pushed aside and referred to as “flyover country.”

“We think that’s far from the truth,” Stephen Foutes, head of the Missouri Division of Tourism, said of the term.

Foutes believes that by promoting Missouri’s cultural, culinary and geographic richness, travelers will quickly realize how much the state and its neighbors have to offer.

“If we can get people to stop here and visit us, they’ll fall in love with some aspect of what we have,” he says. The CEO magazine.

There’s a lot to love about Missouri, which unfolds across fertile plains and rolling hills as it stretches across the center of the North American continent, west of the Mississippi River. Its most iconic attraction, the Gateway Arch in St. Louis – which opened to commemorate the westward expansion of the United States – welcomes visitors to the state with the nation’s tallest monument.

The show-me state

Beyond the Gateway Arch, the “Show-Me State,” as Missouri is often called, offers tourists a wealth of experiences and attractions. These include the family-friendly fun of Branson in the Ozark Mountains, which is famous for its theaters and live shows.

There are the signature barbecue styles of St. Louis and Kansas City, along with those cities’ famous jazz and blues music. Baseball’s Super Bowl champions Kansas City Chiefs and perpetually competitive St. Louis Cardinals draw legions of sports fans to the state. Missouri’s scenic outdoors offers unparalleled camping, fishing and hiking opportunities.

“We provide the opportunity to explore the real America and enjoy the outdoors, enjoy road trips and enjoy family fun,” Foutes said. “We have big cities, we have very small towns, and so there’s a wide variety of options for visitors when they come to Missouri.”

Foutes has led the Missouri Division of Tourism for the past four years. A Missouri native, he speaks proudly of his home state, which he says is a combination of Midwestern charm and Southern hospitality.

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“Working with the Missouri Division of Tourism (MDT) is one of our most valued partnerships. MDT has enabled us to expand and improve our marketing and sales activities through joint advertising financing, conference and meeting support, and sponsorship of national and international trade shows. The MDT team makes it easy to get things done to improve the state and St. Louis.” – Brian Hall, Chief Marketing Officer, Explore St. Louis

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He took over in March 2020, just as the COVID-19 pandemic upended the global tourism industry.

“There was no playbook on how to deal with this and in general people’s health was the top priority,” Foutes recalls. “Leisure travel has been one of the key drivers of our comeback, but there is likely still room for a recovery in business travel.”

Tourism has an economic impact of $17.6 billion annually in Missouri and supports more than 300,000 jobs. Foutes has worked to expand that impact by promoting Missouri to markets near and far, in often innovative ways.

Promotion near and far

An example of this outside-the-box thinking was when the tourism division took a calculated risk by advertising in the Denver market – about 600 miles west of Kansas City, on the western edge of Missouri.

Colorado website traffic increased 300 percent year over year, Foutes said, while Division of Tourism research shows the $3 million marketing campaign attracted 115,000 visitors and $42 million in spending.

“That was a bit of a risk, because we had never been there from a marketing perspective,” Foutes says. “But that was a risk, I think, that paid off for us.”

The tourism breakdown is now focused on 2026. That year marks the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, along with the centennial of Route 66 – the iconic highway that stretches from Chicago to California, which also passes through the historic city of Joplin, Missouri runs.

There’s also the 2026 FIFA World Cup, where Kansas City will host six matches of the world’s biggest sporting competition.

“We know Kansas City will put on a great show,” Foutes said. “We will put on a great show and be great hosts for the World Cup.”

The power of collaboration

The Missouri Division of Tourism aims to attract visitors to the state. But Foutes emphasizes the importance of partnerships. He points to the Destination Marketing Organization partners – such as Explore St. Louis – which the tourism department supports with grants.

He has also embraced the concept of cooperative competition, or ‘collaboration’, with other branches of tourism. “Travelers don’t see borders and state lines the way we do,” he notes.

Foutes cites Travel South USA, a regional partnership of 12 Southern states that Missouri joined a decade ago, as an example of rivals working together and sharing best practices to grow the United States and the South as a tourism destination.

“It’s important to have those relationships and be able to strengthen each other and support each other’s efforts,” he says. “It really opened our eyes to the power of collaboration.”