KOAM TV 7 Joplin and PittsburgTornado tours and map of destruction sparks debate

Tornado tours and map of destruction sparks debate

A new map highlighting the destruction left by the Joplin tornado is raising a few eyebrows and some questions.

The map is being put out by the Joplin Convention and Visitors Bureau (on Facebook) and marks the path of the tornado, showing visitors where they can find certain tornado landmarks, like the remnants of Saint John's and Joplin High School.

Some residents fear the city is trying to capitalize on tornado tourism.  A Facebook has recently been created called Joplin Citizens Against Tornado Tours.

But the CVB says they are not looking to take advantage of tornado tourism.

"We are not actively promoting 'tornado tours'" says the Director of the Joplin Convention and Visitors Bureau, Pat Tuttle.

The city says it gets a lot of calls from people interested in seeing the damage first hand and says the map is a way to answer frequently asked questions.

"We've got requests from bus tours asking 'where can we go - what can we do,'" Tuttle says.  "We are not actively promoting bus tours in Joplin.  That message was put out there - it was miscommunication and they're targeting it.  However when these tours do come in and ask how to get through - 'what's the best way to go?' - we've got to get them in and out the safest way possible."

Sharon Turnball lives next to Cunningham Park and says she sees bus tours already coming through her neighborhood, but she says they are welcome.

"As it stands right now, where I live, the neighborhood is full of people driving, individuals driving by in their cars, people walking around - this way they're all centralized, they're in a bus and I think it's great," says Turnball.

Resident Donna Harrison thinks they city should not have printed the maps.  She says the tour business shouldn't capitalize off Joplin's devastation and if tours are going to make money, they need to give some of it back to those who are now on display.

"By printing these maps I don't think they really understood what the repercussion of it was really going to be," says Harrison.

Again, the city says they are not affiliated with any bus tours going through the areas affected by the tornado.

However, if you would like a copy of the free map you can pick it up on the first floor of Joplin City Hall, in the Convention and Visitors Bureau.