JOPLIN, Mo. — The latest round of Joplin tourism grants tops $100,000 in spending. City Council members have approved funding for 16 activities in the region — everything from the Joplin Memorial Run and Murphysburg heritage events to the Juneteenth Regional Black Expo.

Awards range from a few hundred dollars to $25,000.

City workers point out it’s a good way to get Joplin’s name out even more — and hopefully attract more visitors to invest in the local economy.

“Like OCC has an annual conference series. They have three conferences a year and we give them marketing dollars to help promote that. But it also goes toward speakers – and by having a higher top name speaker come, it will attract more people to the conference which hopefully will generate more hotel rooms,” said Patrick Tuttle, Joplin CVB Director.

The grant funding comes from a portion of the city’s hotel-motel tax. $140,000 is set aside each year in a program that dates back more than two decades.