Readers Think The Tour Of Missouri Was A Good Use Of Tourism Dollars
Last week 181 people voted in the poll:
Q: The 2010 Tour of Missouri has been canceled due to zero funding from the state, which of the following best describes your thoughts:
- The Tour of Missouri has been a great event, bringing money into the state economy each year — a good use of tax money 97 [53.59%]
- The Tour of Missouri has been a victim of fighting between Republicans and Democrats 36 [19.89%]
- The Tour of Missouri has been a money pit, costing more than it made — a good decision to cancel 22 [12.15%]
- Other answer… 14 [7.73%]
- Unsure/no opinion 12 [6.63%]
The (14) other answers were:
- If it’s so successful, they should plan for it’s financial viability.
- screw the bicyclists. when do I get my own lane to drive in?
- Killed by Nixon for a petty political vendetta. Politics at its worst.
- Sad…
- Even the Tour de France commentators said its a shame it got canceled
- What a shame. Where was the money spent instead? What was the return?
- This happened MONTHS ago. Why are you only addressing it now?
- Jay Nixon needs to go for this! What a joke!
- B and C
- Not sure why this can’t be privately funded, the state gave it a good start
- The Tour of MO should be able to fund itself by corporate donations and sponsors
- Tourism should have cut back to $500K or so.
- Not necessarily the best way to spend state money.
- When the economy is bad, nonessentials get cut.
– Steve Patterson
it's funny too that the news people in denver are citing the folding of the tour of missouri as the reason there will be the quizno's pro challange in colorado next year. they are also saying it's going to last longer because most of the support is coming from private business (quizno's) and not the government.
To repeat a valid point I saw posted in the Missourian, The Missouri Board of Tourism took the $1 million allocated by the general assembly for the race and spent in on marketing in 40 Missouri communities. If it was a state budget issue, they should have not spent the extra million dollars at all. They had no legal obligation to obey the general assembly and they simply chose not to spend it on the tour. There appears to be no data that supports the board's preference. I find the decision completely at odds with the boards stated goals of targeting UK and Canadian markets as described in their annual report. It's such an ideal platform to market the Katy Trail.