How Far Is Branson – The town of country music and tour buses is undergoing a personality change. Eight Branson leaders—including Craig Wescott, Jeff Seyfried and Mayor Karen Best—discuss what’s next for our region’s tourism mecca. Branson’s next act is here.
Photo courtesy of Branson/Lakes Area Chamber of Commerce and CVBS. State-of-the-art attractions, infrastructure upgrades and new branding tactics cast a new and cooler light on the 417-country tourist mecca.
How Far Is Branson
Surrounded by 177 acres of wooded hillsides, Jeff Johnson is immersed in one of the few parts of Branson that isn’t lit by neon and headlights.
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Here, you’re surrounded by paper river birches and dogwoods that make it easy to step back in time when the dense forest and strangely mysterious beauty of the Ozark Mountains drew people to Branson. Johnson is located on the outskirts of town, in the middle of Branson’s original tourist attraction. No bright lights, no guitars, no loud music, no dinner theater. Only trees, nature, antique carriages and log cabins.
Welcome to Shepherd of the Hills Homestead Adventure Park. This slice of Ozark life was here before the roller coasters of Silver Dollar City rose from the rocky hillside. It was here before Johnny Morris’ pristine golf courses attracted national attention. It was here before the Mabe and Presley families transformed a 5-mile stretch of Highway 76 into the live music capital of the universe. And now it’s part of Branson’s history, struggling to survive.
Since first celebrating city status in 1912, Branson has undergone a series of transformations from a prime fishing and outdoor paradise to a hub for country music and live theater. But his latest change has one wondering if Branson is in danger of losing his roots. Johnson, the newest owner of Shepherd of the Hills Homestead Adventure Park, is one of those affected. “The history of this area is being lost,” he says. “And our story is important. A lot of people think Branson got his start because of country music, but before the rides, before the lights, a shepherd walked these hills.”
In 1907 that pastor was Father Howitt. Howitt is the main character in Harold Bell Wright’s bestseller The Shepherd of the Hills. The book’s web of love, faith, personal discovery and family loyalty unravels in the sleepy town of Matton Hollow, a fictional town set in the Ozarks. The community’s simple backwoods lifestyle quickly attracted visitors eager to see if the untamed beauty Wright wrote about really existed on the rocky mountainside. For decades, travelers flocked to the farm that served as the inspiration for the book. It was not until 1957 that the story of The Shepherd of the Hills was reworked as a play and performed in the outdoor amphitheater built on the property.
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Photo courtesy of Shepherd of the Hills Homestead Adventure Park Shepherd of the Hills Homestead Adventure Park dates back to the early 1900s and was Branson’s first tourist attraction. Jeff Johnson bought it in 2017 and added 21st century amenities.
By this time, Silver Dollar City had begun to take the lead as Branson’s top attraction, and by 1963 the 1880s-themed theme park was the No. 1 tourist destination in Missouri. The number of visitors to Branson back then was nothing compared to the tourism boom the town enjoyed after 60 Minutes crowned the town the live music capital of the universe in 1991. At the time, stars including Loretta Lynn, Andy Williams, Tony Orlando and others had performed in Branson, the town was on third or fourth line.
Live music was a big draw and the city’s tourist season began to extend beyond the summer. But more than two decades later, Branson is once again targeting a new tourism niche. This time the emphasis is on sports and outdoor life. Award-winning golf courses now host nationally televised tournaments, and ziplines stretch through the treetops, while new courses and waterslides attract a whole new group of visitors. Overall, tourism numbers are up, but its longstanding reputation as a holiday destination where tour buses throng the streets is a bit of a stumbling block. “As our season grew, it grew with musical shows and country music,” says Craig Wescott, CEO and co-owner of The Track Family Fun Parks. “It was great, but it also backed us into a corner at one point.”
1907: The popular novel The Shepherd of the Hills is published and visitors flock to the modest farm that served as the book’s inspiration.
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1950: The Herschend family buys Marvel Cave and takes over tours. Around 8,000 visitors ventured into the cave each year.
1958: Table Rock Lake was created and the Ozarks’ abundance of lakes and rivers became an even more popular fishing destination.
1960: The Herschend family unveils their new 1880s-themed amusement park, Silver Dollar City. The family built the park’s first ride in 1962 and started the annual craft festival in 1963.
1967: The Presleys built the first live musical theater in Branson. Today, the city is home to more than 140 shows.
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1991: 60 Minutes publishes a story on Branson calling the city the Live Music Capital of the Universe.
2014: Top of the Rock reopens and Branson begins building new outdoor attractions to showcase the natural beauty of the Ozarks.
Wescott grew up in Branson. It was the father who started the family business in 1981. Back then, the tourist season was a quick four-month period. “If your doors were open before mid-May or after mid-September, it was a waste,” says Wescott. “All the tourist attractions were aimed at the family with a few musical shows.” Today, Branson is much more than country music, and tourist season approaches year-round. It’s been a 30-year collaboration between city officials, the Branson/Lakes Area Chamber of Commerce and the CVB and the city’s business community, but it’s finally paying off.
Indeed, 2016 was a banner year for Branson. An estimated 9 million people have visited the city – and not just for country music. Newer attractions, including golf, baseball and an indoor water park, have helped boost the city’s tourist numbers, but that doesn’t mean Branson’s work is done and it can shake off its bad reputation. “We’re still learning that people don’t realize that we have more than just music shows,” says Wescott. “Shows are still important to the market, but they are also changing.”
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What’s also changing—albeit at a rapid pace—is the average age of tourists living in the Ozarks. For many years, Branson’s visitors ranged in age from 56 to 75 years old. In recent years, there has been a decline in the over-75 crowd as the city turned its attention to courting a slightly younger demographic. “It’s about family attractions with an outdoor focus,” says Wescott. “It ranges from the lakes to the new golf courses.” With thousands of hotel rooms plus attractions for all ages, Branson is considered a new destination for athletic competitions, business conferences and national association meetings. In 2015, Branson took a major leap into this arena when it hosted the Student & Youth Travel Association, a national organization of tour operators, travel agencies and students working to “provide travel experiences for students and youth to enhance its social, cultural and education growth,” according to the organization’s website. In previous years, the group has traveled to New York, Los Angeles, Toronto and Albuquerque, New Mexico, for its annual conference. But in 2015, the contestants ended up in Branson, Missouri.
There is no doubt that the Christian preacher who wrote the book about faith, redemption, love and romance left a lasting mark on Branson, and is a major driving force behind the way the town is today.
“Some of them came here kicking and screaming,” says Wescott. “But they loved it. Now they’re getting their families back. Wescott was one of many Branson business owners who hosted the event in hopes of showcasing the area’s appeal as a student destination. At the conference, he met a man from Kansas City who had never been in Branson. Why? “He said he’s never been here because he’s not into country music,” Wescott says. To some area business owners, that might be an annoying answer, but Wescott just laughs. He’s heard that line of reasoning a thousand times. . “All people have ever heard is that it’s the old man, the capital of country music,” he says, and he understands why Branson has that reputation. In the 1980s and 1990s, that description wasn’t far off. “It was then we saw the growth and growth of the music scene,” explains Wescott. “And that brought in another customer … the kind on the buses who saw three shows a day.”
But this generation is already fading among the tourist crowds. To stay relevant and sustain tourism, Branson needs to attract a younger crowd that wants to visit the city year-round. That has some business owners and residents worried. Nobody wants Branson to become the Vegas of the Midwest. For many, part of Branson’s charm is its family atmosphere
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