CVB Director Patrick Tuttle talks National Tourism Week

It’s National Tourism Week and Joplin CVB Director Patrick Tuttle stopped by the KZRG studios to speak with the guys about the tourism situation in Joplin and its surrounding areas.

Joplin sits between Jasper and Newton County and provides several jobs in the tourism industry. 

“We have 90 percent of our hotel rooms in the Newton County side, where 86% of our restaurants are on the Jasper County side,” Tuttle said. “We have all these numbers of people who are employed within the tourism entity. Between both counties, about 8,000 people work in hospitality … They represent millions of dollars coming into this economy every year.”

How much money does tourism bring into the area every year? That number might surprise you. In Jasper and Newton County alone, guests to the area spent $450 million dollars in 2024.

“That is people outside the economy,” Tuttle said. “It’s not you and I doing something on the weekend. … So that’s a major thing.”

In total, Southwest Missouri—which the state views the corridor being made up from Jasper, Newton, McDonald and Barton Counties—generates over $485 dollars a year.

“All four counties are different,” Tuttle said in terms of what each county brings to tourism. “You know, Jasper and Barton have more of the outdoor recreation type, sporting type things. You get into skeet shooting and outdoor hunting in Newton county. Then obviously the rafting and the canoeing down in McDonald County. So it’s a great, great piece of real estate we have here that makes up our tourism entity.”

Of course, the biggest attraction to the area is the famous Route 66 Highway. However, that isn’t the only revenue-generating attraction in the area. 

“A lot of leisure travel is because of Route 66,” Tuttle said. “Small, maybe two couples type of thing. And, obviously, the bus tours we get on the group side are definitely Route 66, but we’re working closely with our partners like Precious Moments, George Washington Carver, all those entities that have a draw that would get somebody here.”

As National Tourism Week rolls on, be sure to give a special thank you to anyone you know who works in hospitality.

“This week, just get out and thank your people in the hotels, the people in restaurants, people that work with that,” Tuttle said. “If you’re at a restaurant this weekend, look at the waitress and the waiters and tell them thank you for what they do for our community.”