The tourists are coming back as the waters recede, but they’re still not pouring into Hannibal, Hermann, St. Charles or other Missouri cities that fought the Great Flood of ’93.
“We’re still not up to speed on the weekends in the fall,” said Steve Powell, director of the Convention and Visitors Bureau in St. Charles.
Tour organizers have canceled up to 10 percent of the fall trips.
Powell said tourism was off about 60 percent in July, August and September. “We had 150,000 fewer visitors this summer than last, and we have lost $15.9 million worth of economic contribution since July.”
Tourism officials blame the news media for widespread misconceptions about the breadth of the flooding. News coverage combined with road and bridge closings scared tourists away, they say.
Linda Hedges, an administrative assistant in the Hannibal Visitors and Convention Bureau, estimates that the number of visitors there fell 75 percent in July and August.
“We didn’t flood, but the media presented us as flooded, and people stayed away by the thousands,” Hedges said. “A lot of Hannibal is up on a hill. None of the historic district was affected.”
So far, this month isn’t looking too bad, she said.
“We have been able to work with tour operators,” said Hedges. “We’re sending pictures and letters, anything to convince people it is safe to come here.”
John Bogue owns the Mark Twain Dinette next to the Mark Twain Home and Museum in Hannibal. Customers can eat in the 120-seat restaurant or stay in their cars to order homemade soup and homemade root beer.
“Those are the kinds of things the tourists enjoy and appreciate and keep the locals coming back,” Bogue said.
But not even his hand-dipped onion rings could draw the tourists last summer.
“It was one of those kind of summers we’d like to forget and probably will never be able to,” he said. “Our business for July, August and September was off 40 to 50 percent over last year. From the tourism and travel standpoint, the summer was a total wipeout.”
Hannibal and Marion County actually benefited from increased sales tax revenue. Officials said the closing of roads and bridges kept Hannibal residents from driving to Quincy, Ill., to shop.
Betty Held, a spokeswoman for Oktoberfest in Hermann, said organizers were pleased with the turnout at the event.
The last flooded route to Hermann, Missouri Highway 19, opened in time for the festival.
Held, owner of the Stone Hill Winery in Hermann, kept the business open seven days a week. Business fell 61 percent in July. It started climbing in September, then the water hit again, closing roads, she said.
In St. Louis, Gateway River Boat Cruises had shut down its three excursion boats and the Robert E. Lee Restaurant on the riverfront by July.
Tom Dunn, general manager of the business, said the Huck Finn, Becky Thatcher and Tom Sawyer excursion boats could operate only in June.
The company laid off 300 employees for the summer and is evaluating when it can restart the boats. Its docks were damaged when the Spirit of the River broke away and crashed into the Poplar Street Bridge.
“We’re very optimistic about next year,” Dunn said. “People who haven’t thought about the Mississippi are more aware of the river. We will make the flood part of the historical narration on the boats. We’re trying to make a positive out of a negative.”
Steve Kappler, a spokesman for the Missouri Division of Tourism, said the flood affected tourism statewide, but it’s too soon to assess the economic damage.
“Tourism statistics are notoriously slow to come in,” he said. “We know tourism is a $7.8 billion industry in Missouri. How much of that annual spending was lost during the flood? I don’t think anybody in the industry can give you a guess.”
