ST. LOUIS — Brad Dean, the new president and CEO of the region’s tourism bureau, St. Louis Convention and Visitors Commission, dubbed Explore St. Louis, is wondering why everyone is asking him where he went to high school, the classic St. Louis question.

His reply? In a rural, central Illinois town. He grew up visiting St. Louis on family vacations. Living here to lead the tourism effort is a full-circle moment, he said.

Dean replaces longtime Explore St. Louis president Kitty Ratcliffe, who retired roughly 10 months before her contract expired and in the middle of a troubled expansion of the America's Center downtown convention facility, with $7 million in cost overruns. He will lead the authority as it looks to bounce back from the pandemic , which decimated tourism and downtown’s economy.

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Dean was the CEO of Discover Puerto Rico and, before that, president and CEO of the Myrtle Beach Area Convention and Visitors Bureau. He holds an accounting and finance degree from the University of Illinois.

On Monday, a week after taking the reins, Dean spoke of the future of downtown St. Louis and why the younger generation of travelers could help buoy the city's tourism business.

"This first time in my career where I haven't had 60 miles of sun and sand to rely on," he said. "Let me tell you, travel tourism is a lot easier when you could promote sun and sand."

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

Explore St. Louis CEO and President Brad Dean has over decades of experience in travel and tourism, including his previous role as CEO of Discover Puerto Rico and as president & CEO of the Myrtle Beach Area Convention & Visitors.

Q: Why St. Louis? What brought you here?

Dean: I chose St. Louis because I think the trajectory of potential and the promise of this community is unlike any that I've ever lived in. ... When you look at the potential of what can happen here, I think St. Louis' best story has yet to be written.

If my career were a trip to the casino, I put all my chips in the center of the table, all in on St. Louis, because I think this is a winning hand.

Q: You're stepping into the organization amid the convention center’s troubled expansion, in addition to its low sales and operations. Plus, the bureau has struggled with reports of low morale. How do you navigate that?

Dean: The first thing I'm doing is listen. My early priorities are that we have to maintain a high level of trust and accountability with our community. Some people think we’re here to serve visitors, and we do provide visitors services, but ultimately Explore St. Louis services the public.

The meetings and commissions industry, as well as traveling tourism in general, has changed a lot and we have to be really easy and fun to do business with. At the same time, there's a lot of other good organizations in St. Louis who are doing a lot to push that boulder up the hill, like the St. Louis Sports Commission, Greater St. Louis, Inc. and The Gateway Arts Foundation. We have to be really good at working with them and invested in their success.

We have to be steadfast and relentless in our efforts to promote St. Louis as a great destination to visit. We're not going to out-spend our competition, according to the budget that I was given [the marketing budget for fiscal 2025 is roughly $20 million], but we can outsmart and outwork the competition.

My hope is to be a thorn in the side of some of the other Midwestern cities that compete with us and when they see our sales team coming, I want them to fear St. Louis as a fierce competitor.

Q: What are the next steps for the convention center? It was touted to help bolster the neighborhood economy, bringing thousands of people downtown. But the center’s plans have been edited down to the point where critics claim it won’t have the same impact.

Dean: Clearly, the America’s Center expansion has been a challenging situation, but I think, for the most part, the challenges are behind us. While the expansion didn't accomplish all of the original objectives, what we’re ending up with is an expanded America’s Center that is better positioned to deliver on the expectations and needs of attendees more so today than before [with] a larger, more flexible facility.

The expansion did not meet all of the original expectations but we've moved ourselves forward. We have to adapt our strategies in mind of this. For example, we didn't get a bigger ballroom, so for groups that need a bigger ballroom, we're not going to waste our time and public money trying to recruit them to St. Louis. We're gonna look for groups that need what we offer. It's like the Rolling Stones saying, ”You can't always get what you want, you get what you need.”

We’re already beginning to see that for 2025. Admittedly, the pipeline for 2026 isn’t ideal, so we’ve got a lot of catching up to do. I'm confident that with the team that’s assembled and the strategies that we're going to put in place, that we're gonna see a lift in the future. In fact, I'm betting my career on it.

Q: Locals are often some of the region’s biggest critics. How do you combat that negative perception of downtown among residents?

Dean: First, let me just say that we must strive for a safe, clean, welcoming downtown. You cannot be a great iconic American city without a healthy, vibrant, safe downtown. That’s got to be a top priority.

When I was doing my research, the worst thing I heard about St. Louis came from St. Louis residents. It was a little surprising to me because as a visitor, I've never felt unsafe or unwelcomed here. I don't necessarily judge that it comes from a place of animosity or hatred, I sense that that's just more disappointment. St. Louis residents are proud of their community and recognize what downtown could be.

While we should honestly talk about the problems we're experiencing, we should not affirm the outside narrative that paints St. Louis in a very unfavorable light.

Q: St. Louis’ downtown still has yet to bounce back post-pandemic like other downtowns have. Restaurants are leaving because of crime, and just last week a hotel shuttered. How do you face that?

Dean: It’s not my first rodeo when it comes to downtown revitalization. Myrtle Beach is a small community and the epicenter of their tourism industry was an old amusement park that closed down. Puerto Rico, during the pandemic saw no cruises. Yet, today both of those areas have shown record growth. Both of those downtowns served as a vital role.

We're behind other communities when it comes to downtown realization. ... We have to bring a "whatever it takes" commitment to help propel this area forward. So, yes, we're behind and we haven't seen the comeback that others are, but I think St Louis is poised to write not just a comeback story. This is a takeover.

Q: Zooming out, who are you targeting post-pandemic to bring here to St. Louis besides events and conventions? And what other parts of the region, besides downtown, do you see opportunity in?

We have a lot of underappreciated, underrecognized experiences. Pair that up with the younger generation, who are not just interested in "bucket lists," but true experiences that connect with the community and its people. Something that’s different about the travelers in their 20s and early 30s than my generation, the younger traveler today is looking for curated experiences. Urban exploration is a huge opportunity for us to not just compete, but command.

We're so focused on the Midwest in part due to proximity, and part due to budget. As we are able to make the America’s Center more efficient and financially productive, that will allow us to begin to expand into different markets and different target consumers.

I think we can compete really, really well and so my message to my peers in the Midwest is, "Look out. St. Louis is on the move and we're coming for your business."

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