State offers music, art and all that jazz

Missouri by Alan Moore

State offers music, art and all that jazz

New campaign focuses on region’s heritage

Gateway Arch: Missouri will be involved in the TIA’s See America training seminars for travel agents and reservations staff, which start in London in June

director Donna Cordle Power said: “We’ll expand both elements of last year’s series and, hopefully, the UK locations.”

Missouri is also one of the states involved in the Travel Industry Association of America’s ‘See America’ training seminars for travel agency staff and tour operator reservations staff. Seminars will be held in London the week beginning June 25.

Last year Missouri’s tourism division trained more than 400 agency staff in joint promotions with Delta, and a similar number are expected to be involved this year.

A new music self-drive itinerary targeted at tour operator programmes is currently in the planning stages.

“This will be based on the attractions of the blues in St Louis, jazz in Kansas Cityand line dancing and musicproductions in Branson,” said Cordle Power.

The message of the new advertising campaign, ‘water is an excellent conductor of sound’, uses rivers flowing to the tempo of music to convey a laid-back atmosphere.

Efforts to market Missouri as an up-and-coming destination will be strengthened when Pow Wow is held in St Louis in May 2003.

St Louis’ newest attractions include a space station at the new St Louis Science Centre; the Transworld Dome sports stadium; the Muny Opera house, a 12,000-seat outdoor theatre hosting major Broadway productions; and the St Louis Labour Art Gallery.

A new concert club, The Pageant, was opened in The Loop district by local resident Chuck Berry. In addition, the Red Bud Café has been created on the site of a 19th-century saloon where ragtime favourite Scott Joplin tinkled the ivories. It will now hold ragtime concerts and other events.

Getting around St Louis is easy. The MetroLink light rail system and MetroBus network offer an unlimited combined daily pass for $4, while new historical walking tours of downtown St Louis have been introduced from America’s Centre at Seventh and Washington.

The city is currently served by daily flights from Gatwick by TWA, recently taken over by American Airlines.