As a boy growing up in a small town outside Champaign, Illinois, Brad Dean recalls being awestruck when his family visited St. Louis on his first vacation.
“The biggest arches I'd ever seen were the ‘golden arches’ above McDonald's,” said Dean. “The city kind of changed my life as a child because it was the first time where I realized there was something more than cornfields.”
His career journey over the next several decades took him even farther from those fields – most recently to the beaches of Puerto Rico to head the tourism office there – before returning this month to the Midwest to become the new president and CEO of Explore St. Louis.
“To come back and now be charged with the opportunity to promote and sell this iconic city (is) a really special moment for me,” he said.
His moment comes about five years after the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, which marked a sharp downtown for the tourism industry globally. While some cities are already back to or surpassing their pre-2020 numbers of visitors, events and hotel room bookings, St. Louis continues to fall short. Dean thinks that changes this year.
“Just within the last couple weeks, there have been some big groups in the downtown area, and we know that the spring season is certainly looking promising,” he said. “Based on the numbers we see today and the most recent forecast from outside researchers, it looks like we'll be at, or maybe slightly above, prepandemic levels by the time we get to the end of this year.”
Dean paints a picture of the economic importance of the local travel industry by numbers. According to Explore STL’s data, in the last year, almost 24 million people visited the St. Louis region, generating $5.7 billion in economic impact (including $3 million in tax revenue for local governments), and sustaining about 87,000 jobs.
“If we do our jobs well, not only do we create more commerce—which creates jobs—not only do we help businesses thrive, we actually enhance the quality of life [for St. Louisans],” said Dean.
Explore St. Louis also manages the America’s Center convention complex, where the mounting costs of upgrades and updates led to major criticism of Dean’s predecessor in the job, Kitty Ratcliffe, who retired early last year.
Dean said he still thinks the end result is a convention complex that rivals similar facilities in Chicago, Indianapolis, Nashville and Memphis, cities often framed as tourism competition for the region.
“The expansion didn't end up where we wanted so but you know, it's like the Rolling Stones thing, ‘you can't always get what you want, but sometimes you get what you need,’” he said. “What we've got today is a better, more versatile convention center. My role is to make sure that we align the strategies, manage the resources responsibly with a high degree of accountability and integrity, and make sure we are tenacious in selling this.”
His optimistic vision of the future comes with clear eyes about the city’s issues. While violent crime is continuing to trend downward in St. Louis, Dean recognizes the perception of crime is a continued problem.
“When I was doing my research about St Louis, the most negative things I heard about our community came from residents of the community. Not necessarily out of animosity or hatred, I think it's just a sense of maybe frustration and disappointment, of what could be versus what is. And so I think what we've got to do is balance this and address the real problems, not ignore them,” he said. “But we have to talk about ourselves in perhaps a more positive light of not just what's happened in the past, but what's taking place today, and encourage people to know that when you come here, we value your safety. Then, we’ve got to deliver on that.”
Dean’s overall sunny outlook hasn’t been sullied by the turbulent Midwest weather – he said he came to town for his final interview for the position during this year’s especially snowy and icy January.
“I can't rely on beaches and sunshine here, but what we have is the culture, the history, the architecture, not to mention some great music, entertainment and sports, and that's our strength.”
His first test case on that pitch theory was his wife, a Caribbean native.
“This was really her first time in St Louis as a visitor,” he said, winning her over despite the frosty welcome with tours of the St. Louis Art Museum and the Blues Museum and stops at several local restaurants.
“I told both of us, this is not only going to be a great place to promote, this is going to be a great community to live in for me and my family – that was part of the decision,” he said. “I've lived in some beautiful communities, but it is a real honor and a privilege to be able to be the newest resident of St Louis, and just imagine getting paid to tell the St Louis story. I mean, this is a dream come true.”
