Maryville Tourism eyes conference hosting

At the July 15 Maryville Tourism Committee meeting, Director DeAnn Davison announced she was submitting applications for two 2025 and 2026 conferences to be hosted by the City of Maryville.

One is the University of Missouri Extension Connecting Entrepreneurial Communities Conference planned in September 2025. It is estimated there would be 185 attendees. The conference selection team will conduct a site visit 11 am to 2 pm, Monday, July 29 to evaluate facilities and resources.

The other is the Missouri Association of Convention and Visitors Bureaus for its 2025 and 2026 conferences. The association is looking to host the annual conference in the northwest region for either year and would need 30-50 rooms over two days. Davison is working with Mozingo Lake Recreation Park staff to complete the proposal by Thursday, August 15.

The transient guest tax from October 2023 through May is down approximately $8,000 from the projected budgeted amount which is based on the 2023 fiscal year revenue figures. Presently there is a slight uptick of $259 on the tourism fees over the 2023-24 budgeted amount.

City Manager Greg McDanel reported the wayfinding signage is included in Phase II of the South Main project. At the next tourism meeting, Wednesday, September 11 there should be options for the committee to choose from.

McDanel also discussed the tourism grants given by the committee. Since 2018, there have been 13 grants awarded. Eight of the 13 have been for $5,000. When the grant program was set up by the tourism committee, the maximum amount was $1,000 with higher amounts to be given special consideration. McDanel said he was afraid the current expectation was $5,000 for each application. Davison said the original intent for the grant was to be used for marketing and not for operations of an event.

Questions were asked about whether awarded events had obtained the goal of bringing people in from outside of Nodaway County. Additional information hasn’t been requested by the committee.

Committee member Jeff Stubblefield said the director could go through the process and come back to the committee with recommended changes.

A tourism grant for $5,000 was given to Maryville’s Black Pony Brewing Company for Oktoberfest to be held Saturday, September 21. It is expected to draw 800 visitors and generate 25 hotel room stays. The plan is “to create an event that embraces German culture while providing a diverse range of activities and experiences for attendees of all ages. The goal is for Oktoberfest to be an annual event, increasing in size and scale each year. By emphasizing local vendors and artisans, we hope to celebrate and support the talents within our community, bringing people together in the spirit of Oktoberfest.”

The website redesign has been completed and referred to the Missouri Division of Tourism for review because of the $10,000 grant awarded. Davison is working on completing the forms for the Missouri Division of Tourism. It is expected the website will go live Thursday, August 1.

The Tourism Committee has received a second Marketing Platform Development Grant for fiscal year 2025. An RFP will be issued to find appropriate photography and videography vendors for the project.

There will be an August meeting to review the proposed fiscal year 2025 tourism budget.

Upcoming travel for the tourism director includes: Pony Express Regional Tourism Luncheon, July 25; Missouri Main Street Connection conference in Kansas City, July 30 to August 1; Missouri Event Summit in Columbia, August 8; Missouri State Fair Leisure Travel and Trade Show in Sedalia, August 15; Missouri Main Street Connection Workshop in Sedalia, September 26; and Governor’s Conference on Tourism in Kansas City, October 15-17.

At the May 1 Maryville Tourism Committee meeting, Jordyn Greenhaw was elected as president, while Jeff Stubblefield was elected as vice president.