From cave guide to tourism guru — Tracy Kimberlin wraps up 35 years at Springfield CVB
For 35 years, Tracy Kimberlin has been the driving force at Springfield’s Convention & Visitors Bureau. He retires Dec. 31.
He started his tourism career putting bumper stickers on cars at Meramec Caverns and worked his way up to cave guide. The cave was owned by a relative named Lester Dill, who saw an eager young fellow who’d do about anything for a job.
Kimberlin grew up in Bourbon, Missouri. His dad only had an eighth grade education but “worked his ass off,” according to Kimberlin. That’s where he learned his work ethic. His mom was a teacher, then principal, and then president of the local school board at a time when few women were elected to anything. That’s where he got his desire for education.
He was enrolled in college at Rolla to study engineering but fate intervened. His mom and little brother were murdered. Kimberlin changed his major to psychology to help him cope with the tragic events in his family. After two years at Rolla, he transferred to Southwest Missouri State, now Missouri State University, and added social studies to his psychology program with the hope of following his mom’s career path as a teacher or guidance counselor.
Detour into the hospitality industry
To work his way through school he got a job as a waiter/bartender at an upscale Springfield restaurant called Steer and Stein. Later, Kimberlin got a job in hotel sales and found he could earn much more in the hospitality industry than as a guidance counselor, so his career path forward was set.
Kimberlin soon became general manager of the hotel, then vice president of nine properties. This position put him on the board of the Springfield Convention & Visitors Bureau. In 1987, he was asked by the CVB board to leave the hotel and become the president of the CVB, the job he’ll retire from this year.
In 35 years, Kimberlin has become knowledgeable in pretty much every facet of the tourism industry. Travel professionals from all across the country seek his input about the business of tourism today. He was the major architect of state tourism funding known around the country as the Missouri model.
In Missouri, tourism is big business. The tourism economic impact in the pre-pandemic fiscal year of 2019 in Missouri was $17.7 billion, and the tourism industry employed 304,329 people statewide.
Bouncing back from the COVID-19 pandemic
Kimberlin remembers warning his staff on Feb. 10, 2020 to be aware of the pandemic. To save money, he had his marketing people cut all advertising for the rest of that year. He vowed not to lay anyone off and not cut salaries.
May 2020 turned out to be their worst month. His staff began applying for grants to begin advertising ahead of other CVBs, he said. He adhered to the philosophy of “being in the market when your competitor isn’t,” and it worked. Springfield’s travel business showed immediate growth, and 2021 was a record year. Kimberlin said he's most proud of this success, giving credit to his staff of professionals.
Since then, tourism in Springfield has grown beyond pre-pandemic levels, and Kimberlin thinks the outlook for the state is good.
“The pandemic helped to bring focus to the outdoors. The state has very diverse offerings, from bull-riding to symphony orchestras. The future looks particularly good in southwest Missouri — Springfield and Branson,” he said.
He added that business travel, meetings and conventions haven’t picked back up. Restaurants and hotels are having trouble finding workers and have been forced to get creative, like offering carryout and loosening restrictions on who can be an employee.
Tourism industry depends on cooperation
Kimberlin said much of the future tourism growth in Springfield depends on what Johnny Morris does on his Bass Pro Shops campus. He also sees a need for a convention center. In the travel industry, every location needs “a new ride” every so often, he said, but the new ride needs to fit the image and locale of the area.
He feels confident that whoever gets his job when he retires won’t have to come in to fix things. His staff has business well in hand. The stature of the CVB has risen considerably in the community, Kimberlin said, and the organization enjoys strong support from the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce, the business community and city council.
Kimberlin also is grateful for the cooperation the CVB enjoyed with city management coordinating use of American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds. By working together, the CVB used money it received to partner with the city and the state legislature to begin construction on tournament-quality outdoor sports venues, a new arena building at the Ozark Empire Fairgrounds, preliminary work on the Chadwick Flyer Trail linking Springfield to Ozark and other projects. These things add to tourism growth, Kimberlin said, as well as enhancing the quality of life for people who live in Springfield.
Kimberlin said he hopes his replacement doesn’t look at this job as a step-up to bigger places. He hopes they will learn to love Springfield as he has.
In recognition of Kimberlin's work, the Missouri Association of Convention and Visitors Bureaus has created a scholarship in his honor, to be awarded to students pursuing a career in the tourism industry, with preference given to students at Missouri State University.
This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Springfield CVB's Tracy Kimberlin retires after 35 years in tourism
