Publisher of Kennett-based magazine receives prestigious Emory Melton Legislative Award

Gary Figgins, publisher of Kennett-based Show-Me Missouri magazine, was recently awarded the Senator Emory Melton Legislative Award during the 2008 Missouri Governor's Conference on Tourism held in Kansas City.

The award recognizes lawmakers and tourism industry members who work closely with the legislative process in support of Missouri's travel industry and is named after a former legislator who was a strong supporter of tourism.

Figgins was instrumental in the development of Capitol Days for Tourism, the tourism industry's annual two-day lobbying event in Jefferson City.

He has also traveled to Jefferson City numerous times to testify on behalf of various tourism-related bills before House and Senate committees. Since 2001, the amount of

money allocated by the General Assembly for tourism marketing has nearly doubled, reaching more than $23 million this year. Figgins served two terms as president of the Missouri Travel Council, the state's private sector tourism association, and chaired the association's legislative committee for six years.