Steve Ross traveled to Chicago, Ill.in May to represent the Springfield Convention & Visitors Bureau and the state of Missouri at International Pow Wow 2014. The U.S. Travel Association’s IPW is the travel industry's premier international marketplace and is the largest generator of travel to the United States. More than 6,000 people from 70 nations filled McCormick Place during this year’s event which packed in three days of intensive pre-scheduled business appointments.

Steve helped answer questions about destinations and attractions in Missouri, with specific emphasis on Route 66 and historic sites, which are of special interest to international travelers. The group met with tour operators, journalists and travel agents and other travel-related businesspeople from the United Kingdom, Germany, Canada, Japan, Italy, China, Israel, France, Brazil, and Australia.

More than 1,000 U.S. travel organizations from every region of the nation, and more than 1,200 international and domestic buyers conducted business negotiations that are estimated to result in the generation of more than $4.7 billion in future travel. At IPW, buyers and sellers are able to conduct business that would otherwise be generated only through an exhaustive number of around-the-world trips.

IPW 2015 will be May 30-June 3, at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Fla.