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Joplin convention bureau credits digital ads, previews UCI pump track qualifier at new bike park
Summary
The city’s Convention & Visitor Bureau told the Joplin City Council that lodging-tax–funded marketing—including a recent Expedia campaign—helped generate hundreds of room nights and roughly $103,000 in gross bookings; the bureau also previewed a UCI pump-track qualifying event and more centennial programming.
Tuttle, a presenter from the City of Joplin Convention & Visitor Bureau, told the council on Feb. 2 that the bureau operates on lodging-tax revenue (it receives no general-fund support) and runs a four-person staff that markets Joplin to visitors living roughly 70 miles or more away.
The bureau reported that the city monitors about 22 lodging properties and roughly 1,907 hotel rooms (city-certified inventory). Tuttle said one digital campaign placed on Expedia and affiliated sites drove about 667 hotel room nights at an average booked rate near $155 per night, which he estimated equated to roughly $103,000 in gross sales; the campaign’s performance represented about a 4.3-to-1 return on ad spend, he said. Tuttle identified those tracking figures as originating from Expedia Plus (which includes Travelocity and other affiliates) and distinguished them from Smith Travel–reported figures, which differ because hotels report directly to Smith Travel.
Tuttle said the bureau has used state matching grants and other state tourism programs to promote new assets, notably the Momentum Bike Park (referred to in the presentation materials). He said the bureau is placing ads in nearby regional markets and highlighted that the bike park will host a Veil Solutions UCI pump-track qualifying event Aug. 15–16, 2026; he said the international UCI announcement was expected imminently (Switzerland time).
The presentation also described visitor-engagement activity: the bureau logged 3,695 guest-book entries last year (an increase from 2024) and recorded international visitors from dozens of countries; Tuttle cited a 2024 Visa report that he said showed 40,687 international cardholders from 131 countries spent in the Joplin area, which the bureau estimated translated to multi‑million dollars in visitor spending for 2024 (speaker-provided figure). The bureau also hosted six FAM tours for travel writers and worked with the Missouri Film Commission on projects that included footage used for a Netflix program and a recently completed Harley-Davidson commercial filmed on Main Street.
Tuttle closed by previewing collateral materials (visitor and history guides) and centennial-related events (the June street-painting festival, a rodeo in May, a two-day Renaissance Festival and a September hot-air‑balloon event). He told the council the bureau is tracking a strong year ahead, including potential visitor impacts from the FIFA World Cup in the region, but that final room demand will depend on where teams base and official base-camp assignments.
The mayor thanked Tuttle; no formal vote or action was requested or taken during the CVB presentation.
