ST. LOUIS, Mo. (KMOX) – Despite a down economy, Saint Louis is holding its own on the visitor and convention front.

President of the Saint Louis Convention and Visitors Commission Kitty Ratcliffe tells KMOX, prior to the recession the picture was brighter, but she’s not complaining people are starting to travel and spend more money.

“In our last fiscal year we had 10 of the 12 months that actually did better in terms of overall revenue for hotels, and 11 of the 12 months that did better in occupancy.”

This past Summer, the CVC hosted an event for the American Society of Association Executives. They are the people that book conventions and Ratcliffe says while they took some heat for the bill, it was worth it because now another large group is coming to take a look at the Gateway City.

Meeting Professionals International, also called MPI has booked a convention for July 2012 for St. Louis. Ratcliffe says its a very similar event from the American Society of Association Executives but the difference is in who will be attending. “The people who will attend MPI are meeting planners for corporations.”

Radcliffe says normally organizations like MPI, do not look at cities like Saint Louis often.

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