A whole lot of water in Branson has amounted to a whole lot less tourism.
The two facts seem to go hand in hand.
But the Branson Chamber of Commerce says almost weekly flooding since March has not discouraged visitors from vacationing in Branson
According to the chamber, there are a number of reasons why less people have been frequenting Branson.
But it doesn't have anything to do with flooding- there.
"It's just happened several times now. It's unfortunate. Every time it happens it's a drain on the community and expensive to replace,” explains Branson Parks Director Cindy Shook.
She says it will cost about $100,000 to replace the result of mother nature's most recent wrath.
“We have a lot of fencing damage,” plus an infield that's been partially washed away for the second time this year, and a popular city park that now looks more like a lumber yard.
“We had, like i think they said, between 5 and 6 inches in just a few hours,” says Shook- a statement that’s been uttered in reference to rain in this tourism town on a regular basis this year.
Since early spring flooding has plagued Branson parks and homes, but the water has never touched the strip.
Still, tourism in the town is down 7 or 8%, but the chamber of commerce says it's not Missouri's weather we should be blaming.
“I think one of the challenges for us more than anything else has been the weather, not so much the weather here... but really in our feeder markets, mostly places north of us,” explains the chamber’s Vice President of Marketing Dan Lennon.
Throw gas prices into the mix and you've got a recipe for a smaller batch of tourists.
But neither rain nor fuel could stop these Montanans from choosing Branson as their vacation destination.
“We’re here on a family reunion. 25 of us here, we came from all over the country,” explain Janey and Peter Zimmer.
And the chamber hopes more people follow the Zimmer's lead; grab an umbrella, rent a hybrid, and come on down to Branson.
The chamber says it has redirected its advertising campaign to focus on recruiting tourists from cities closer to Branson, since research shows people aren't willing to travel as far for vacations this year.
Chamber officials also claim 80% of Americans say they will still vacation in 2008, so they are hopeful their biggest tourist months, July and November, will post bigger numbers.